The Rise of Uzumaki Naruko
by Dreetje
Summary: Naruko finally graduated from the Shinobi Academy and now the secrets of her past are revealed. Under the guidance of her Jounin Sensei Uzuki Yuugao she starts her career as a Kunoichi of Konoha. FemNaruko/FemHaku
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Hello everyone and welcome to the first chapter of 'The Rise of Uzumaki Naruko'.

Beware: this is a FEMALE Naruto story with a pairing of Naruko and a FEMALE Haku. In other words YURI. Lately some very good stories about a female Naruto have been popping up (a really good one is 'He said, She said' from EroslackerMicha) and I kind of liked the idea. However, in this story Naruto is born female unlike the other stories where a male Naruto gets transformed in a girl. I love those stories but I wanted to do something different.

Needless to say this is the first chapter and I'm quite satisfied with the way it turned out to be. I tried to get a different angle for this story and will aim at bringing a mostly new story without using too much from my other Naruto story. This story will be an attempt to bring an original content but using events from cannon to guide the story along.

Caution: normally this story won't receive an update every two weeks like my other stories. I wasn't planning to post this chapter until much later but since I didn't have the time to write a chapter for my other story I still wanted to give my faithful readers something. Problem with my other story is that I hit a mayor writer's block. While I could simply use the cannon events to continue I kind of wanted to give it a new direction. That doesn't mean I'm changing everything but I need to have some time to alter the cannon events in a new way. Until the timeskip I had I all figured out but now, I'm sort of lost. Very weird but it happened anyway. I hope to resolve this problem soon when I have more time to brainstorm about it.

Anyway, I hope you guys can forgive me for this and hope you enjoy this story as well as my other stories. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter One: Enter! Uzumaki Naruko

Uzumaki Naruko was running through Konoha as if the Kyuubi itself was on her tail. She weaved through the crowd that was shopping in the market district even this early in the morning. Some of the people she dodged by a hair glared at her for scaring them but she ignored all of them. After all she was used to being glared at after all these years. She jumped over a food cart earning some very colorful language directed at her by the owner but she was long gone.

Uzumaki Naruko was running but not because she was in danger for her life or because she was being chased. No, it was because she was almost late for class. You see, Naruko was a last year student at the Shinobi Academy of Konoha. Yep, she was a ninja in training and this was the start of her last week as an Academy student. At the end of the week she would graduate and finally become a full-pledged ninja. She could hardly wait to do missions and learn Ninjutsu other than those three Academy level Ninjutsu she already knew about and mastered. Well, mastered was a big word. Maybe she should say she could perform them to an adequate level. Especially the Bunshin no Jutsu was a major pain in her lower back side. She just couldn't do it without concentrating for almost half a minute which was barely within the acceptable limit for the academy teachers.

She saw the Academy come in to view and sighed as she saw other students still outside meaning she wasn't late today. Thank the Rokudou Sennin for small miracles as this meant that she wouldn't have to deal with Iruka-sensei and his boring speeches. She ignored the kids of her class and went straight to her assigned classroom. When she opened the door she saw that Iruka was already there grading some papers from yesterday's pop quiz.

"Hello Naruko, glad to see you're on time for once." Iruka said smiling. She wasn't the best student around but she wasn't the worst either. She had a lot of potential but her attitude in class and towards her fellow classmates was holding her back. He looked her over and saw that she was were her usual outfit of a black pants and red t-shirt and wore her hair in a long ponytail. She had had that particular style for years now.

"Good morning Sensei." Naruko said and sat down in her usual spot in the back of the classroom.

"Are you ready for the graduation exam?" Iruka said trying to make some conversation. He knew all too well that she wouldn't have much trouble passing but he still wanted to ask her anyway.

"I think so." Naruko shrugged. "I've got the grades, the psychical part is no problem and as long as you and Mizuki-sensei don't ask the Bunshin No Jutsu as Ninjutsu test I should have no problems."

Iruka nodded his agreement; of all the students here Naruko was the one with the most stamina and chakra. Even the boys couldn't compete with her on that part. When it came to target practice she was at the top of the class as well and Taijutsu didn't give her any problems either though she had once told him that she found the style that was being taught at the academy both uncomfortable and restrictive.

One by one the other students entered the classroom and Naruko kept to herself like always. She didn't have any friends in her class and while they didn't hate her or mistreated her they also didn't try to get to know her or become friends with her. The boys in the class were intimidated by her as she had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to approached by any of them at the beginning of her career. The girls however thought she was weird because she didn't like Uchiha Sasuke, the heartthrob of the school. The boy was an orphan just like her as his family had been murdered a few years back and so he became the instant focus of all the girls who loved a dramatic love story. Of course the love part was invented by themselves as Sasuke was as cold as a piece of ice in the winter.

Naruko listened at what Iruka was telling while Mizuki passed out the results of yesterday's test. She disliked the man; he had this weird vibe around him and Naruko was always on guard when he was around. She looked at her score and smirked as she had done pretty well, A-. Not bad for an unexpected quiz that she hadn't really studied for. That would put Sakura's panties in a knot she figured. Sakura was like her archenemy at school. The pink-haired girl was one of the leaders of the Uchiha Sasuke's fan club and Naruko couldn't help but pity the girl.

'Look at her, trying to impress the Uchiha with a stupid test she aced.' Naruko thought looking at Sakura. 'And of course Yamanaka has to have her say as well.'

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were two die-hard fans of Sasuke and were bitter rivals of each other. At first they had been friends but once Sakura announced that she 'loved' Sasuke they had become each other's rivals.

'Love?' Naruko thought. 'What does a 10 year old girl know about loving a boy? She was probably still playing with dolls at that age.'

While Naruko was thinking about all of this Iruka continued his lecture on the importance of being able to recognize edible plants and fruits in the wild. Naruko's attention waivered and she fell asleep only to wake up when the bell rang letting her know it was time for lunch. With a smile on her face she jumped out the window unto the schoolyard and quickly left, heading for her favorite eating stall in whole Konoha.

"Hey, Ayame-neechan." Naruko greeted the girl behind the counter when she reached Ichiraku Ramen.

"Naruko-chan, is it lunchtime already?" Ayame said smiling.

"You bet. I'll take four Miso-ramen." Naruko ordered.

"Coming right up." Ayame said before getting to work. She was already used to the Naruko's eating habits as the girl came here every single day at lunch. She had literally seen the girl grow up from this small girl who could barely look over the counter to the young women she was today.

While Ayame was preparing her ramen Naruko engaged in a conversation asking were the old man was. The old man was Ayame's father and the owner of the food stall. Ayame laughed and said her father had tried to pick up a heavy box and had hurt his back the day before. Naruko laughed as Ayame imitated how her father had reacted after hurting himself.

After eating her four servings of ramen Naruko stayed a bit longer before returning to the Academy for her afternoon classes. She preferred the afternoon classes as they involved target practice, stealth training, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu practice. Also the classes only lasted until four so they passed quickly.

* * *

At four Naruko raced out of the Academy and ran straight to her favorite training field where she, unlike the other girls, still practiced for several more hours. The others might be satisfied with being weak and stupid fangirls but she sure as hell wasn't. There was another reason why she liked coming here to train as it was the only place where she could meet her big sister.

Uzuki Yuugao looked as Naruko came running into the clearing like she always did after she finishes her day at the academy. Yuugao was Naruko's personal guard and was about the only friend Naruko had except for Ayame. Even if Naruko only knew her as Neko-chan because of her station as ANBU.

Naruko had known about Yuugao for about three years now though Yuugao had been guarding her for almost double that time. Each afternoon they would meet up in the clearing and Yuugao would stay with her while Naruko did her training. They talked about everything from training to girl's stuff and Naruko had quickly become more than an assignment to Yuugao. Neko-chan, as Naruko affectionately called her, was Naruko's role-model; she was strong, sexy, had lots of talent and on top of that she was an ANBU. Naruko had two dreams in her life; one was to become just like Neko-chan and the other was to become the greatest Hokage in the history of Konoha.

Yuugao looked on as the young girl diligently went through her exercises and smiled at how dedicated the girl was. She knew Naruko looked up to her and she had wanted to help her out but she wasn't allowed to teach her anything, which had disappointed Naruko at first but that didn't mean she couldn't give her any advice or tips so that's what Yuugao did.

"Naru-chan, try to keep your balance when throwing that punch." Yuugao said.

"Okay." Came the reply before the girl went thought the entire kata once more.

* * *

Three hours later Naruko stopped her training for the day and returned home to her apartment. Her place wasn't all that much but thanks to Yuugao's help she had managed to fix it up a bit and give it a somewhat homey feeling. Saying goodbye to Yuugao for the night Naruko quickly ate some dinner and read a book before going to bed exhausted.

The rest of the week went very fast for Naruko and before she realized it she was getting ready to take the exam the next day. She had trained for only one hour so she wouldn't be tired or oversleep the next morning. She had a good feeling about the exam and she was sure she could pass it without too much trouble. When she went to bed she dreamed about going on missions and becoming the strongest kunoichi Konoha had ever seen.

While Naruko was sleeping Yuugao was heading towards the Hokage tower as she had been summoned by the Sandaime Hokage. She wasn't nervous or anything as she had been having these meetings every week with the man regarding Naruko but she did wonder why he wanted to see her a day earlier than normal as they usually met on Friday evening. She didn't worry about and would know soon anyway. After passing the reception she knocked and after hearing that it was okay to come in she opened the door.

"Ah good to see you Neko." The Hokage said smiling. "Come on in."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Yuugao respectfully said before standing in front of the Hokage's desk.

"At ease, Neko." Sandaime smiled. He had a soft spot for the woman and she was one of the best ANBU in recent years so she had earned his respect. "Neko, how long have you been Naruko's personal guard?"

"Almost six years, Hokage-sama." She answered knowing all too well that the 'God of Shinobi' knew the answer to that question without having to ask her.

"Six years? I thank you for your hard work, Neko." Sandaime said stuffing his pipe with tobacco.

"It's been a privilege sir." Yuugao said truly meaning it. She knew just how much the Hokage cared for the young Uzumaki and knew that he would only put someone he truly trusted to keep his adopted granddaughter safe.

"Take off your mask please, Yuugao." Sandaime said putting his hands under his chin and resting his head on them. Yuugao nodded and remove her ANBU mask revealing a young, beautiful woman around her mid twenties. "Yuugao, I'm in need of your help." Sandaime sighed.

"I assume this help isn't as an ANBU, Hokage-sama?" Yuugao asked curiously.

"No, it isn't. As you know, tomorrow the current class of Academy students will graduate and this of course means Naruko as well." Sandaime said with a twinkle in his eye. Yuugao smiled as he always had that twinkle when he spoke of her. "Unfortunately this also gives me some trouble. I can't place Naruko with just any teacher as you know."

Yuugao nodded and remembered _the_ incident three years ago when Naruko was only ten years old. Naruko had slipped out after Yuugao's shift was over to get some groceries and had gotten cornered by a drunken merchant with a sick love for young underage girls. The man had caught her by surprise and knocked her out with bottle before dragging her to a dark alley to have his way with her. As Naruko had only just started at the Academy she was unable to get free and fight to man. Luckily, Yuugao had noticed that Naruko had left her home thanks to a tracking seal that had been placed on her. Yuugao had arrived just in time to stop the man from psychically harming Naruko but in the end the damage was done. Naruko had been so scared that she had grown very distrusting of men and boys that she refused to get close to any other man than the Sandaime and the old man at Ichiraku's. It wasn't that she hated men but rather that she was careful about them. She was friendly and respectful to her male teachers and people she met on the street but she would never let a man touch her again or completely trust one unless she knew for sure that he had no ulterior motives. That's why she had told all the boys of her class to leave her alone or else.

"There is only one female Jounin sensei available and that's Kurenai." Sandaime explained. "While she would be a great teacher for Naruko, she has been asked to teach three other students. The other Jounin sensei are Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma." Here Yuugao winced as she knew that Naruko would never accept to be taught by either of those two. Kakashi because he was a pervert that kept reading that smut book of his and Asuma because of his smoking. "I see you understand why this is most troublesome."

"I understand but what does that have to do with me?" Yuugao asked.

"I want you to become Naruko's Jounin sensei." Sandaime said dropping the bomb. "I know you like being in ANBU but I have nobody else I can count on."

"I accept." Yuugao said without hesitation shocking the Sandaime.

"While I'm glad that you accept, I would have thought that it would take you a bit longer to make that decision." He remarked.

"Hokage-same, for the past six years I have considered Naruko-chan as my little sister." Yuugao smiled. "For years I have wanted to help her but I was bound by my orders not to. Now I finally have the chance to be a true older sister to her so I don't need any time to decide."

"There's another reason why I asked you this." Sandaime admitted. "On the night of _the_ incident Naruko was devastated, asking me why nobody loved her or why she was always alone. I made her a promise that on the day she graduated from the Academy I would tell her truth about why some people dislike her so much and about her parents."

"You know who her parents are?" Yuugao asked surprised.

"Yes, I do but I have kept that knowledge a secret because if revealed it could mean even more trouble for her." Sandaime nodded. "Nevertheless, I intend to keep my promise but I fear she'll need some emotional support."

"Say no more Hokage-sama, I'll be there." Yuugao said determined

"Very well; Uzuki Yuugao, your ANBU status is hereby terminated effective immediately." Sandaime said with authority. "As of this moment you are given the rank of Elite Jounin and Jounin sensei of Uzumaki Naruko."

"Thank you Hokage-sama, I will not let you down." Yuugao said happy.

"I have the utmost confidence in you Yuugao." Sandaime smiled at her. "Teach her well."

Yuugao nodded and asked if there was anything else she could do for the Hokage but he dismissed saying he had taken enough of her free time and that he would see her the next day with Naruko. Yuugao wished the man a good night before hurrying home. When she opened the door she immediately knew her roommate was waiting for her and she wasn't happy. She knew how her roommate could be at times so she wasn't really worried.

"Where have you been?" a voice said from inside the bedroom. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

Yuugao looked at the door and smiled as her roommate and lover came out of the room wearing only the skimpiest thong possible. Yuugao looked on in fascination at what her lover was wearing or rather what she wasn't wearing. Oh yes, it promised to be an eventful night for Uzuki Yuugao.

"Like what you see?" the woman said before grabbing Yuugao in a hug and kissing her. Yuugao moaned in the kiss as she felt the woman's body pressed against hers to her pleasure. Yuugao snaked her arms around her and rested them on the perfectly shaped ass of her lover. When they broke the kiss Yuugao smiled and lead her to living room.

"Anko-chan, I've got wonderful news." Yuugao said.

"Oh, let me guess." Anko said in her typical playful manner. Yuugao nodded and Anko started guessing what the news could be. Ten minutes and a lot of weird and bizarre guesses later Anko pouted and gave up saying she didn't have any more ideas.

"Sandaime-sama asked me to become Naru-chan's Jounin sensei." Yuugao said happily hugging Anko close to her.

"You said yes right? Please tell me you said yes." Anko wanted to know. She too loved the blonde girl to bits as she had been charged with guarding her when she was little but she doubted Naruko remembered her.

"Of course I said yes." Yuugao said rolling her eyes. "Starting tomorrow I'm officially the Jounin sensei of Uzumaki Naruko."

"That's great; so will you ask her to move in with us?" Anko asked excited. The two of them had wanted to ask her for years but they never could as they weren't allowed to compromise Yuugao's identity as an ANBU.

"If we do, we'll have to tell her about us." Yuugao said thinking. "Are you okay with that?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm okay with that." Anko said before kissing Yuugao again and lead her to the bedroom.

* * *

Today was the day that Uzumaki Naruko would start her true career as a kunoichi of Konoha. She had no doubt that she would pass the exam and become a Genin. Making her way to the Academy she didn't notice the stares or the glares and just focused on becoming a Genin. She was pretty early today so nobody was there but that didn't bother her one bit and she went straight to the classroom knowing that while no students had arrived yet Iruka would be there already. After greeting her sensei a good morning and a bit of small talk they fell in a comfortable silence and waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

First was a written test involving history, anatomy, general knowledge and what not. It was all pretty straightforward. Naruko actually thought it was a bit silly; if you didn't know who the Hokage were and what one of their signature jutsu were after all these years, well you pretty much deserved to fail. Same went with knowing the human body and do's and don'ts of being a shinobi. Naruko was pretty sure she aced the exam so she felt very good about it.

Second came the psychical exams; unfortunately it was in alphabetical order so she had to watch most of the class go before her and she shook her head at some of the student's attempts. Some of them barely completed the obstacle course (one of her favorite exercises), barely hit the center of the target with Kunai and Shuriken and Taijutsu was a laugh. She watched as Haruno Sakura started breathing heavily barely two minutes into the spar and even then she had done nothing more than block and a few attacks here and there. 'Most of the Uchiha fan girls are pathetic like that' Naruko thought.

Finally it was her turn to spar with Mizuki-sensei and she readied herself for the match. Standing in front of the man she got into the typical Academic Taijutsu style and waited for the sign. All that was needed to pass was to survive five minutes or manage to hit Mizuki. She had every intention to land a hit on the teacher that she disliked so much. When Iruka gave the sign Naruko pressed forward and threw a punch which Mizuki easily blocked but he was still surprised at the force the punch had. Naruko didn't let up however and tried again by using a one-two combination with her left and right following closely. Again Mizuki blocked both punches but his hands were hurting from the sheer impact.

'What the hell? How does she manage to hit so hard?' Mizuki thought furiously. 'She hits harder than most boys.'

Naruko let out punch after punch, occasionally adding a kick or two in the mix but so far she hadn't managed to land a clean hit. Time was running out and while she would have passed anyway she really wanted to hit Mizuki. Deciding to use a feint she motioned to make another one-two combination to the face hoping that Mizuki would fall for it. She threw out her right which he blocked and he automatically raised his other hand to block the following left but instead of aiming at his face Naruko went for the body. Focusing her weight into the punch like Neko-chan had told her she dealt a devastating blow to Mizuki's body right where his liver was. Mizuki took the full brunt of the punch and was forced to take a few steps back before his knees buckled and fell on the ground breathing heavily and in a lot of pain.

Iruka and the rest of the students looked on in shock as the only other student that had managed to hit Mizuki was Sasuke but that was expected as Sasuke was considered a genius. Even then Sasuke's hit didn't make Mizuki fall to his knees like that. Iruka declared Naruko the winner and congratulated her on her success. Iruka then called up Yamanaka Ino who had to spar against him since Mizuki was still recovering. Naruko went back to the classroom with a huge smile on her face.

'That's for four years of glaring and belittling me.' Naruko smirked.

The last portion of the exams was the Ninjutsu testing and again Naruko had to wait her turn. One by one, students went to take the exam and she saw a lot of happy faces meaning they all passed the exam. Naruko did kind of wonder how some of them managed to pass but in the end she didn't really care. Then it was finally her turn.

"Okay Naruko, please show me the three Academy Jutsu." Iruka said smiling. Mizuki had gone home saying he needed a check up from a medic Nin to see if that punch had done any lasting damage.

Naruko nodded and performed the 'Henge no Jutsu' first transforming herself into a perfect replica of the Hokage complete with pipe and hat. Iruka nodded at her excellent performance and scribbled something on his notepad. Next came the 'Kawarimi no Jutsu' and Naruko easily switched place with a chair at the other end of the classroom earning another nod and smile from Iruka before turning to the last Ninjutsu. As she had more trouble with this one she concentrated for about half a minute before three clones appeared. Iruka frowned a bit at the time needed to execute the jutsu but in the end he smiled as she had performed it perfectly.

"Well done, Naruko." Iruka said beaming. "I'm very impressed with your performance today and I happily award you your headband. Congratulations."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruko said happily. "Thank you for teaching me, I'm sort of going to miss this place."

"You're always welcome to drop by Naruko-chan." Iruka smiled at her. "And if you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask okay?"

"I'll hold you to that Iruka-sensei." Naruko nodded before storming out the room.

'You're really something else Uzumaki Naruko.' Iruka thought before calling in Yamanaka Ino.

Five minutes later Ino returned to the classroom also wearing her headband and Iruka dismissed them all telling them to come back the next day so they could be sorted into teams. The students raced out of the room outside where parents were waiting for their children. Naruko watched as parents hugged and congratulated their kids and she felt a bit jealous that she didn't have anyone there to hug her. That was until she heard a voice directly behind her.

"Congratulations on passing Naruko-chan." The Sandaime said smiling.

"Ji-chan, you came." Naruko said smiling and went for a hug from the only man she would allow close to her.

"Of course, I promised you I'd be here didn't I?" Sandaime said hugging the girl.

"And you never break your promises right?" Naruko added laughing.

"That's right, so are you ready?" Sandaime asked her. Naruko knew that today she would learn some things about her past just like he had promised three years ago and she had been waiting for this day ever since.

"You bet. Let's go." Naruko said puling on the Sandaime's sleeves.

Sarutobi nodded and followed her; while they walked to his office they talked about the exams and how she had done. Needless to say the Sandaime was very proud of her and promised her a reward for performing so well. Naruko blushed at being praised by the strongest shinobi in the village but eagerly accepted. She really loved her Ji-chan; when he was with her nobody dared to glare at her or call her names. Until now she still didn't know why some villagers did this but today she would find out.

* * *

Arriving at the tower they went straight for the Hokage's office and Sarutobi told his secretary that he wasn't to be disturbed for the rest of the day, no matter what. When they entered the room Naruko smiled as she saw her 'big sister' standing there.

"Neko-chan, I did it. I passed the exam." Naruko told her.

"Congratulations Naru-chan; I knew you could do it." Yuugao said smiling though she was still wearing her mask. She and the Sandaime had decided that she would remove her mask so that Naruko was absolutely sure it was her and not some imposter. 'Though it would be hard to fake my beautiful long hair' Yuugao mused.

"All right let's get to business shall we?" Sandaime said getting both Yuugao's and Naruko's attention. "First of all, Neko you can remove your mask."

Yuugao nodded and watched as Naruko moved closer to finally see the face of her 'big sister'. Slowly, as to tease Naruko, Yuugao removed the mask and revealed her face sporting a beautiful smile at Naruko who was staring at her. Naruko on her side was mesmerized by Yuugao's face and couldn't stop staring until Sandaime cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Naruko, this is Uzuki Yuugao." Sarutobi said. "She has been watching and guarding you for almost six years now and yesterday she accepted to retire to become a Jounin sensei."

"So I won't see you again?" Naruko said sadly.

"You didn't let me finish Naruko-chan." Sandaime said quickly. He didn't want her to get sad already as he was sure there would be tears in his explanations that were to come. "Yuugao here will be your Jounin sensei. She's one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha so you're very lucky to have her as a sensei."

"Really? You mean it?" Naruko asked happily. When Yuugao nodded Naruko jumped out of her chair and hugged her new sensei tightly. "Thank you so much Yuugao-sensei."

"You're very welcome Naruko-chan." Yuugao said returning the hug. "We'll talk later but for now Hokage-sama has more news for you."

"Indeed, first of all I want you to know that whatever is said here today is an S-Class secret." Sarutobi warned both of them. "Naruko, I promised you three years ago that I would tell you who your parents were and why people dislike you. Let me start with who your parents were; your mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina and she was a former kunoichi from the Whirlpool Country." Sarutobi paused to let Naruko breath a little. "She was a beautiful woman with long, fiery red hair and a tomboyish behavior. You look at lot like her except for the blond hair." Sarutobi smiled.

"So what happened to her?" Naruko asked softly.

"We'll come to that later." The Sandaime said. "Let's move on to your father. Your father's name was Namikaze Minato but you know him as Yondaime Hokage." Here both Yuugao and Naruko were shocked and had their jaw almost hit the ground.

"T-the Y-Yondaime is my dad?" Naruko asked just to be sure she didn't misunderstand.

"Yes, you are the daughter of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato." Sandaime said nodding. "The reason why you have your mom's name is that it would be too dangerous for you if everyone know your heritage. I'm sure you can imagine how Iwa would react as well as Minato's enemies inside the village." Both Yuugao and Naruko didn't need much more explanation to see the Sandaime was right about that. Naruko's life would have been in danger everyday of her life if that knowledge became public. The Sandaime then got up and walked to the portrait of the Yondaime and beckoned Naruko to come as well.

"Your father has left you a few things but only you can access them." Sandaime explained. "Just put a little blood on the nametag here." Naruko did as instructed and the three of them heard a loud 'click' before Sandaime pushed the portrait to the side revealing a niche inside the wall where three scrolls were laying. Sarutobi took them and handed them to Naruko who held them like they were the greatest treasure in the world. She looked at the scrolls and saw that they were marked with a number from one to three. She put the scrolls on the desk and opened the scroll marked with the number one. Tears formed in her eyes when she saw that it was a letter from her parents to her.

_To our little princess;_

_We're writing this scroll knowing that this would be the only thing we would be able to leave you. This is without a doubt the most painful thing we had ever had to do. On this very moment Kyuubi is attacking the outer limits of the village and as Hokage (yes your dad is the awesome Yondaime you heard so much about) I have to fight it and protect the ones I love. I also know that this will be my last fight; Kyuubi cannot be defeated like any other enemy. Kyuubi is a demon and so many times stronger than a shinobi, even a shinobi as strong (and awesome) as me. Knowing this I started searching for another way to defeat it and I believe I have found it._

_But this solution comes with a great cost, a cost of a human life. If it would have only been my life it would have gladly given it but unfortunately this is not the case. While I will die fighting the Kyuubi it's your life I have to sacrifice and for that I'm so very sorry. I'm going to seal the demon inside your body making you a prison for him. You will the one who will save our village every day of your life. You will stop him from destroying everything and everyone we love. You will be a hero amongst hero's but by doing this I know that I'm sentencing you to a very hard life and for that I apologize once more. Know that I have the utmost confidence in you; I know that you will be able to do what I am not. Defeating Kyuubi and protecting our village and loved ones._

_The reason nobody told you about us is that I had a large number of enemies inside and outside of Konoha. I was responsible for the death of a large number of Iwa shinobi during the war and they have always been very hostile towards me after the war. If they knew I had a __child they would have send assassins to kill you and I couldn't let that happen to my little princess. _

_You may have noticed that your mum hasn't written anything and there's a reason for that. __I'm very sorry to say that your mother is very sick at the moment (which is not your fault so don't even think such a thing!), your mother has gotten very sick at the end of her pregnancy and the Medic Nin fears that she won't be able the bear the strain of giving birth to you. But know that she loves more than life itself. She's looking forward to holding you in her arms and she has a big smile on her face knowing you're almost ready to meet the world. She already talks about you and the things she will teach you when you were older. Your mum is an amazing woman, Naru-chan. Kushina is a bit of a tomboy, always hanging around with the guys but she's everything I could ever wish for in a partner and lover. I'm sure you'll look just like her thus making you the most beautiful girl on the planet (yes I just said that because it's true.) _

_As for me, I have never been more proud than the moment your mum said she was pregnant with a baby girl. I knew right there and then that you would be the greatest kunoichi Konoha or the elemental countries have ever seen. I have loved you since the moment your mom and I knew she was pregnant and I loved you more and more each passing day. I'm so proud to be your daddy and I love you very much. Never forget that._

_Inside the other scrolls are several of my original jutsu that I have made and that made me the man I am today. This is my legacy for you Naruko. The Namikaze clan is not a big or famous clan like the Uchiha or the Hyuuga so we're not rich and we don't own a large estate but we were always happy with what we had and more importantly we had love. Make sure you find someone to love, princess because love will enable you to become truly strong._

_Well, I guess this is it. There were so many things your mother and I wanted to teach you, we wanted to see you grow up happily and find love. So as your parents we give you a mission. The mission is to get as strong as you can, find love and be happy. This is our mission to you. _

_With all our love, _

_Mom and Dad. _

When Naruko had finished reading she had tears running down her cheeks and even Yuugao and the Sandaime had teary eyes. Naruko couldn't hold it anymore and just cried while Yuugao jumped out of her seat and engulfed her in a hug. Naruko grabbed on to her as a lifeline and cried her heart out.

"It's okay Naru-chan, just let it all out." Yuugao said while rubbing her back. Yuugao could only imagine how Naruko must be feeling and decided right here and there that there was no way she would let Naruko live by herself any longer. The girl was in need of a family and by the Rokudou Sennin she and Anko would give her one.

It took Naruko about half an hour to calm down enough so that the Sandaime could tell her about what happened with the Kyuubi. Just like her parents had done in their letter he especially reminded that she wasn't the Kyuubi in any shape of form. She was just the jailor and the one that protect Konoha from the Kyuubi's wrath.

"Why did the Kyuubi attack?" Naruko asked suddenly.

"I fear that is something we might never truly know, Naru-chan." The Sandaime said sadly. "I have been asking myself that very same question for years but all I have is wild speculation or hearsay. Maybe one day you'll find out."

"Well, you can count on me Ji-chan." Naruko said determined. "That stupid fox won't go anywhere as long as I have anything to say about it. I'll protect this village just like mum and dad did."

"I knew I could count on you Naru-chan." The Sandaime said while putting his hand on her shoulder. "I have no doubt that the 'will of fire' burns greatly with you and I'm sure that one day you'll become the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever had."

"Damn right, I will be the best." Naruko smirked but quickly apologized when Yuugao looked at her strictly for using such language.

The trio stayed inside the office for a bit longer just talking about every day stuff before the Sandaime dismissed them saying it was a beautiful day and that they shouldn't spend it with an old man in a stuffy office. Naruko gave the Sandaime one last hug and thanked him for keeping his promise before she joined Yuugao who was waiting at the end of the hallway. Naruko and Yuugao exited the Tower and Yuugao told Naruko to follow her to her place.

"Anko, I'm home and I brought someone." Yuugao yelled loudly from the hallway. Naruko, who had never been invited to someone else's home before waited nervously not knowing if it was okay to step inside.

"What are standing there for?" Yuugao asked her. "Come on in, no need to be shy." And she pulled Naruko inside. Naruko looked on in amazement at how tidy and neat the place was compared to her place and was almost afraid to sit down when Yuugao told her to take a seat. When Naruko heard someone opening the bathroom door she turned her head but before she could see who it was someone grabbed her and held her tight. Naruko was surprised and tried to get away, not wanting someone that she didn't know to touch her.

"Anko, calm down and let go of Naru-chan. You're scaring her." Yuugao ordered and whoever was holding Naruko quickly let go. Naruko took a few steps back and saw that it was a woman who had grabbed her and she immediately calmed down a bit. The woman was wearing a short miniskirt with a fishnet shirt and a trench coat that barely covered her body. Her face was one of mischief and passion and Naruko thought she was very beautiful to say the least.

"Naruko-chan, this is my roommate and lover."Yuugao said. "Her name is Mitarashi Anko and she's a Tokubetsu Jounin."

"L-lover?" Naruko squeaked. This was something she hadn't heard about. Sure, the academy had sex education and all that but they never mentioned that two women could be lovers.

"Yep, Yuugao-chan and I are together." Anko said before planting a quick kiss on Yuugao's lips making Naruko blush like crazy. "Don't worry though; we'll try not to make you uncomfortable."

"Do you think we're weird?" Yuugao asked the blonde girl.

"N-no, it's just that I never knew that two girls could be together." Naruko admitted. "Is that normal?"

Anko and Yuugao smiled and explained that it was possible that a girl preferred other girls over boys and that there were boys who liked boys instead of girls. It was just that society frowned a bit on those people that they mostly tried to hide it so they wouldn't get into trouble. They also explained that there was nothing wrong with a girl liking girls or a boy liking boys; it was just the way things were. Naruko seemed to accept this quite easily and said that she didn't have any problems with them being together.

"If you have questions about these kinds of things you can always come to Anko or me, okay?" Yuugao said sisterly. "There's nothing wrong with asking questions either."

Anko then told Naruko that she had watched her when she was little and that she was very happy to see her again. Naruko on her side tried to remember those times but nothing came up. Anko laughed telling her not to worry about it and that they would get to know each other all over again.

"Did you ask her yet?" Anko suddenly said to Yuugao who shook her head 'no'.

"Ask me what?" Naruko wanted to know.

"We want you to move in with us." Yuugao said. "We've seen where you live and we think it would be great if you lived here with us, as a family."

"A family? You want me to be part of your family?" Naruko said not really believing it but she really hoped the women meant it. She hated being alone all the time and living here would be great.

"Absolutely." Anko and Yuugao said together. "We have a spare bedroom ready for you and we could get all your stuff tomorrow."

Naruko didn't need to be asked twice and quickly agreed saying she would love to be a family with them. After that the three had dinner together and spend the evening telling stories and getting to know each other better. When Naruko finally went to bed, she had the biggest smile on her face. Today had been a good day with lot of surprises, a bit of drama and finding a family. Life had just done a one-eighty for the young blonde and she enjoyed every minute of it.

* * *

Well, how was it? Was it worth reading or did you found it boring? Let me know how you feel about it and any suggestion are welcome as well.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome to the second chapter of this new story. I know that many people are waiting for an update on 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto' but unfortunately the writer block hasn't been conquered yet. Don't worry though, the update is coming. I have been working on a few ideas so don't give up hope.

This story has been received pretty well so I decided to continue it while I have ideas and stuff for this story. I will however try to make it a bit more AU than my other story. I wouldn't be fun to read if the exact same thing happens as in 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto' now would it? It might be a bit slow in the beginning because I'm a bit more focused on the characters than on action in the first chapter but that will soon change. As usual, any ideas and suggestions are welcome so don't hesitate to contact me by review or PM.

Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you felt about it.

* * *

Chapter Two: I like your style

Naruko woke up the next morning in a room she didn't immediately recognize and for a moment she panicked thinking something had happened to her. Then however she remembered that she was in her sensei's house and that everything was okay. She put on her clothes and quietly stepped out of her room not knowing if her sensei and Anko were still sleeping. She didn't need to worry however as she smelled something very good being prepared as breakfast. She was hungry and so went straight to the kitchen where she saw Anko preparing breakfast.

"Ah, good morning Naru-chan." Anko said giving the girl a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning Anko-san, I slept very well thank you." Naruko said politely.

"No need to call me Anko-san." Anko laughed. "Anko-neechan or Anko is just fine. Do you want some pancakes?"

Naruko nodded and attacked the pancakes Anko put on her plate and soon she was complimenting Anko's cooking. She had never tasted anything like it and she loved it. Anko smiled and put another pancake on her plate saying that they could have pancakes as breakfast whenever she liked from now on. Naruko grinned widely at that and eagerly nodded saying she agreed completely. Ten minutes later Yuugao came out of the bathroom ready to go and told Naruko that when she finished breakfast the bathroom was ready for her to use.

"Thanks Yuugao-sensei." Naruko said.

"Naru-chan, whenever it's just the three of us you can call me Yuugao-neechan, okay?" Yuugao said just like Anko had done before. Naruko nodded and excused herself to take a shower.

When she entered the bathroom she was amazed at the large bathtub and shower; her place had a sink and a small shower where she barely got warm water but nothing like this. She stripped out of her clothes and turned the shower on and she laughed in delight as she felt the hot water running down her body. After enjoying the feeling for about five minutes she noticed the shampoo and sniffed at the bottle. It smelled fantastic; it was something she had never smelled before but whatever it was it smelled great. She applied a bit on her head before starting to wash her long hair. When she was finished she stepped out of the shower and took a towel out of the closet and dried herself off. She picked up her clothes and quickly put them on. She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed that her top was started to show signs of wear and hoped that it would survive a few more weeks until she had done a few missions. She quickly bound her hair in a ponytail before she rejoined Yuugao and Anko.

"Well, I'm leaving to work." Anko said before kissing Yuugao soundly on the lips making Naruko look the other way. Anko smirked and grabbed Naruko and gave her a kiss on the cheek and stormed out the door.

"Is Anko always like this?" Naruko wanted to know.

"No, just when she's with people she loves and trusts." Yuugao said smiling. "Otherwise she keeps to herself most of the time. Except when she sees an opportunity to annoy someone."

"Oh, I'm going to be late for the Academy." Naruko said but before she could leave Yuugao stopped her saying she wasn't supposed to be there. "But Iruka-sensei said we should be there for team selection."

"That's true but that doesn't apply to you, now does it?" Yuugao said smirking. "You already know who your sensei is and you're the only one in our team at the moment."

"Does that mean that someone can join us later on?" Naruko said understanding that she wasn't needed at the academy.

"Only when we both agree on the person." Yuugao said. "But that's worry for later; today we're going to get you the things you need. So follow me."

Naruko followed quickly and with Yuugao next to her they walked to the shopping district where shinobi could get everything they needed. Naruko wondered how she was going to pay for all of this and voiced her concern to Yuugao who laughed and said that today they could put everything on the Hokage's bill as a gift for her graduation. That made Naruko very happy as perhaps she could get some decent material for once.

"So where is this shop we're going to?" Naruko asked Yuugao.

"Well, it's my favorite clothing shop." Yuugao said smiling. "We'll need some clothes that you can wear while outside of training and missions. Plus I'm guessing you have almost outgrown the clothes you're wearing now." Naruko nodded and Yuugao dragged her into the shop. The owner recognized Yuugao immediately and welcomed her but when she saw Naruko a slight frown appeared.

"Naruko is my student and needs a whole new set of everything." Yuugao said with authority. "You can mail the bill to Sandaime Hokage as this is a personal gift from him to her."

"O-Of course, Uzuki-san." The lady stammered.

Naruko had the time of her life and Yuugao just kept on bringing her clothes that she could try on. In the end they exited the store with five sets of underwear, three pants, five shirts and two sweaters plus a pair of comfortable shoes. Naruko had never owned that many clothes and even then they all had been worn until she got gotten too old or big for her. They dropped the bags off back home before Yuugao motioned Naruko to follow her on the rooftops.

"Where are we going now?" Naruko asked.

"Now, we're getting you your clothes for training and missions. That and enough equipment to last you a while." Yuugao said before jumping over to the next roof. "Come on slowpoke, try and keep up."

Naruko took that as a challenge and raced after her sensei eager to try and catch her. Yuugao for her part slowed down enough just to let Naruko get close before jumping ahead once more. After five near captures but always missing Naruko let out a scream of frustration.

"Aha, don't let your anger control you." Yuugao lectured. "A shinobi remains calm and controlled in any situation no matter what."

Naruko nodded and took a deep breath before trying to catch Yuugao once more. In the end she didn't even come close to catching her but Yuugao assured her that it was normal and that she would get much better over time. When Yuugao stopped in front of a small boutique Naruko wondered what they could be buying here but still followed her sensei inside. She watched as Yuugao talked with the storeowner before she was beckoned to join them in the back of the store. To her amazement Yuugao wiped some blood on the wall and a door appeared and Yuugao quickly ushered her inside.

"What is this place?" Naruko asked her sensei.

"This, my dear student, is one of the many entrances to the ANBU Headquarters." Yuugao smiled.

"Is it okay for me to be here?" Naruko asked amazed.

"Well, normally no Genin would be allowed to enter HQ like this but since you're my student Hokage-sama arranged it to be okay." Yuugao winked at her. "But I should probably tell you that the location of any entrance is an A-Class secret so don't tell anyone."

"I won't tell a soul." Naruko vowed.

"I know I can count on you." Yuugao said before leading Naruko deeper inside the tunnels and maze that lead to the ANBU HQ. Naruko was amazed that Yuugao knew exactly where to go but she explained that this maze was made to fool enemies that made it inside. Every Konoha ANBU knew the way out of their head. Naruko nodded understanding how important it was to protect the HQ. Finally after a few minutes of walking they stopped in front of dead end and Yuugao smeared some blood on a stone which gave them access to HQ as the wall opened up revealing a large room.

"Yuugao-sempai, how good to see." One ANBU with a mask shaped as a bear greeted her. "Did you miss us already?"

"Hello Bear-kun, you know what they say; Once an ANBU always an ANBU." Yuugao said smiling. "I would like you to meet my student, Uzumaki Naruko."

"Nice to meet you Uzumaki-san." The ANBU said and Naruko nodded her head showing she returned the feeling. "You're very lucky to have Yuugao-sempai as a sensei. She's one of the best."

"Yes, yes enough with ass kissing." Yuugao said impatiently. "We're here to get some supplies for myself and Naruko."

"Then don't let me hold you." Bear said before leaving the room.

Yuugao and Naruko made their way over to what Yuugao called 'the treasure vault' and Naruko quickly understood why she called it that. The room had any imaginable weapon and large amounts of them as well.

"As a former-ANBU I'm still allowed to buy my stuff here at reduced prizes and the Sandaime gave you permission to buy everything you need here as well." Yuugao said before picking up a set of kunai and shuriken. "So, I'll take care of our standard equipment while you look for a weapon you want to use."

"Weapon? You're going to teach how to wield a sword?" Naruko asked surprised.

"It doesn't have to be a sword if you don't want to." Yuugao shook her head. "Swords are my preference but you can choose whatever you like."

Naruko nodded and started looking for something she could use as a weapon. She liked swords but she didn't think she would be able to wield them well enough. She passed other weapons like the Kama, the Kusagi-gama and the shinobi sword but nothing seemed strike her as something she wanted to use. She had almost given up when she noticed a pair of Tanto knives and she took one in her hands. Naruko immediately liked how it felt and made some motions with it to test it out. Yuugao who noticed that Naruko had found something came to take a closer look.

"Tanto huh?" Yuugao said after a quick inspection. "Not a bad choice if you use both of them. And they're made of material that allows you to focus chakra into them."

"How do you do that?" Naruko wanted to know.

"I'll explain it to you once you can wield these two Tanto to my satisfaction." Yuugao said making Naruko pout cutely and sealed them inside a scroll. "Come on, I grabbed us enough kunai and shuriken to last a while. All we need next is getting you some durable clothes."

Naruko allowed Yuugao to pull her to the clothing section of the room and watched in amazement as Yuugao started talking to herself about what would fit and what wouldn't. When Yuugao had finally found something she pushed Naruko into a booth and ordered her to try them on. Naruko took a look at the clothes Yuugao had selected and found that it closely resembled the standard ANBU outfit. The only difference was that the vest wasn't gray but dark blue and it also covered her shoulders. Yuugao had also selected an orange mesh shirt that would only be visible by a thin line at the neck and shoulders. As pants Yuugao had selected a tight fitting short with a skirt to wear over it. The long black sandals that went just to under her knees completed the outfit. All in all she liked it and exited the booth a few minutes later all dressed up.

"How do I look?" Naruko asked shyly.

"Perfect; you look very good Naru-chan." Yuugao said pleased with the result. "It looks very professional; showing that you mean business."

"Thanks." Naruko said blushing a bit.

"Now all we need is a pair of forearm protectors, pouch and kunai holster." Yuugao said before disappearing again for a moment. When she returned she had all three things with her and handed them to Naruko who quickly attached the fully packed pouch to her belt and the holster to her thigh. The forearm protectors were special according to Yuugao as they were different from standard ANBU protectors; they were close fitting and were capable of being strengthened by focusing chakra into them. Finally a pair of fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back gave the finishing touch to Naruko's outfit.

"All right, all that's left is to take a picture for you shinobi registration ID and then were done." Yuugao explained and together they made their way back to the surface and straight to the photographer. Naruko had a great time as Yuugao insisted they took a few pictures for home and they made a lot of silly faces much to the dismay of the man taking the picture. After waiting five minutes the pictures were ready and the two kunoichi headed to the Hokage tower to submit the paperwork.

* * *

While walking to the tower Naruko noticed that a lot of people were staring at her and it made her a little uncomfortable. Unlike other times however the stares were more of amazement and wonder than hate or disdain. Yuugao explained that people had surely noticed the resemblance between her and ANBU now that she wore her new outfit and that they were impressed by her. Naruko doubted that a bit but still accepted the explanation. Once in the tower they had to wait a bit as the Hokage was still in meeting with the others who had become Jounin sensei that year. Ten minutes later and two men and one woman exited the office. They seemed to recognize Yuugao and came over to greet her.

"Ah Yuugao, I heard you quit ANBU to become a Jounin sensei as well." The bearded man said to Yuugao.

"You heard correct Asuma. I would like you three to meet my student Uzumaki Naruko." Yuugao said. "Naruko, these are Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai and Hatake Kakashi. They'll be the Jounin sensei for your classmates."

"It's nice to meet you all." Naruko said politely.

"The pleasure is all ours, Naruko." Kurenai said. "My, you look very sharp in that outfit."

"Thank you, Yuugao-sensei picked it out for me." Naruko said smiling.

"Well, I'm sure we'll meet again but for now we need to pick up our students." Kakashi said still reading his book.

"Don't you mean that Kurenai and I will pick up our students while you'll let yours wait for a few more hours?" Asuma laughed and waved at Yuugao and Naruko.

"Patience is a virtue and essential for shinobi." Kakashi said before walking out of the hallway. "Besides, they're young so what are a few hours?"

"I know they might seem a bit weird, especially Kakashi but those are a few of the strongest Jounin we have." Yuugao said to Naruko.

"Is Kakashi-san a pervert?" Naruko asked suddenly.

"I guess he is a bit." Yuugao admitted. "He's always reading in his 'Icha Icha Paradise' but he would never hurt a woman. I worked under him while being a newbie in ANBU so I know. The only real problem with him is that he's always late for everything."

Naruko nodded and knocked on the door to Sandaime's office. Once they were granted permission to enter they opened the door and went inside. The Sandaime looked up from his desk and smiled as he saw Yuugao and Naruko enter. He then looked at Naruko and was very impressed with her choice of clothing and he definitely approved.

"Yuugao-san, Naruko-chan what can I do for you?" Hiruzen asked.

"We just came to deliver the paperwork and picture for Naruko's registration ID." Yuugao said giving the Sandaime the envelope with everything inside.

"Ah very good." Sandaime said before placing it with the folders he had already received. "I see you already used my offer to go shopping."

"We sure did, Hokage-sama." Yuugao nodded.

"Thanks Ji-chan, that was the best present I ever received." Naruko said happily.

"You're very welcome, Naru-chan." Sandaime grinned.

Seeing that the Hokage's desk was filled with paperwork they excused themselves saying that they didn't want to take his valuable time. Naruko laughed when she saw how her adoptive grandfather scowled at the idea of doing paperwork. She thanked him once more for the present and left.

* * *

Seeing as it was time for lunch Yuugao suggested that they meet up with Anko and have lunch together. Naruko saw no reason not to and nodded asking where they would find Anko. Yuugao laughed saying that there was only one place where Anko could be at this time of the day. She then explained Anko's obsession with Dango and Naruko laughed at hearing how Anko had once threatened someone who had tried to steal one of her Dango. Soon the Dango stand came into view and just like Yuugao had predicted Anko was sitting at the counter happily munching on some Dango.

"You'll get fat if you eat so much." Yuugao said to Anko who still had her back turned to the street. Anko recognizing the voice turned around and grinned at Yuugao before she noticed Naruko standing there.

"Wow, who's the babe. Are you cheating on me?" Anko said jokingly. "Because if you're not then do you mind if I take her home with me?" Anko jumped up from her stool and grabbed Naruko rubbing her cheek against Naruko's making the poor girl blush like a tomato when everyone started looking at her.

"Alright enough embarrassing my student for now." Yuugao said laughing at Naruko's look on her face. "We thought we could spend lunch together."

"Sounds good." Anko said letting go of Naruko and sitting back down before ordering two more plates of Dango for the three of them.

Lunch turned out to be much fun and giggles with Anko always trying to 'seduce' Naruko. She tried everything from 'do you come here often?' or 'Have we met before?' and Naruko found it amazing that some people even used those lines for real. When she mentioned that Anko and Yuugao laughed saying that those were some of the most used lines when men tried to pick up a conversation with a woman. After they finished lunch Anko returned to HQ saying she had a lot of work to do on a missing-nin that had just been captured.

"Well, Naruko are you up for some training?" Yuugao asked.

"You bet Sensei." Naruko agreed nodding her head eagerly.

* * *

Yuugao took her to a training ground that they would be using from now on and Naruko saw that it had everything they might need. It had posts to practice your kicks and punches on, targets for kunai and shuriken practice, a small obstacle course and it was located just next to a small lake.

"Alright, first thing I'm going to teach you tree-climbing." Yuugao said making Naruko look at her. "This exercise will help you in chakra control and it's an essential skill for any shinobi. Let me show you."

Naruko watched as her sensei walked to the tree and just kept walking when she reached and then she marched straight up the trunk without even looking back. Yuugao continued until she reached a branch and hanged upside-down from it. Naruko could hardly wait to be able to do that. Yuugao jumped down and landed next to her student who was bouncing up and down waiting for the explanation.

"What you need to do is gather Chakra to the sole of you feet." Yuugao explained. "That will allow you to stick to the surface. Careful though, the amount of chakra has to be just right. Too little and you won't stick but too much and you'll get blasted off the surface. Go on, try it. You can take a little distance and run up the tree in the beginning."

Naruko nodded and walked to the tree halting several feet in front of it. She then closed her eyes and focused some chakra to her feet. She felt the chakra and guessed it was okay to try and she ran straight at the tree. She put her left foot on the trunk and started running upwards but after a few steps she lost her focus and her grip slipped causing her the fall down. Luckily she managed to land on her feet not injuring herself.

"Nice try, Naruko-chan." Yuugao encouraged her. "Keep at it; you'll get it I'm sure."

Naruko nodded and tried again and this time she managed to get a few steps higher than last time before falling down. Refusing to give up she tried again and again.

Two hours later Naruko dropped down on the ground feeling exhausted but very good about herself. She had made it halfway up the tree before she lost control. Yuugao had been watching and giving her tips and advice and after having one small temper tantrum (which Yuugao immediately stopped saying that she needed to control her emotions) she had made a lot of progress.

"Very good, I didn't expect you to make so high up the tree in only a few hours." Yuugao said impressed. While a lot of girls had far less trouble with chakra control Naruko was an exception as she had so much more chakra thanks to the Kyuubi. That made it vital that she learned to control her chakra as best as possible. Yuugao knew Naruko would never have the control a Medic-Nin had but that was okay; she doubted Naruko wanted to be a Medic-Nin anyway.

"It's harder than it looks." Naruko said tired.

"That's because the sole of the feet are one of the most difficult place to gather chakra." Yuugao explained. "But it's a skill that's necessary to know as it will allow you to stick to ceilings or walls during missions."

"Why don't they teach us this at the academy?" Naruko asked her.

"I guess it's because they don't want academy students injuring themselves by trying this out by themselves." Yuugao said not really knowing the answer. "Ready to continue?"

Naruko nodded and went back to her tree and started running again. Meanwhile Yuugao was trying to come up with a descent training regime for her student. As a kunoichi they had less body mass and that enabled them to be faster than most male shinobi; also men were stronger when it came to strength unless you were Tsunade. Yuugao knew that Naruko was stronger than other girls but she doubted Naruko would ever pack a punch like Gai did. So she wanted to work on speed and stamina instead of focusing on strength training. That didn't mean they wouldn't train in that area but they would focus more on the rest.

'Hmmm, maybe I should get her some weights?' Yuugao thought. 'I remember Gai always bragging about his student wearing weights.'

After she came up with several exercise for Naruko she moved on to the next subject, Ninjutsu. With as much chakra that Naruko had it would be a waste not to have her learn Ninjutsu. Luckily Yuugao was ANBU trained and knew enough Ninjutsu to teach her student. She would start out with a few low-ranked but very useful jutsu before working their way up to higher-ranked jutsu.

'Definitely need to find out her chakra-element.' Yuugao scribbled down. 'I wonder what her affinity will be?'

Suddenly a loud 'YATTA' sounded through the clearing and Yuugao looked up and to her amazement Naruko had managed to reach the top of the three. She looked at the position of the sun and saw that it was almost six in the evening. She must have been thinking deeply because she hadn't noticed time go by. She smiled at Naruko who had descended the tree with a million watt smile on her face.

"Did you see it Sensei?" Naruko asked excited. "I made it all the way up to the tree."

"I saw it, Naruko-chan. Well done indeed." Yuugao said putting her notes away. "As a reward I'll teach you a jutsu tomorrow."

"Really? What kind of jutsu?" Naruko asked curiously.

"I haven't decided yet. For now let's go home." Yuugao said. "Anko will be waiting with dinner."

* * *

When they got home Anko had just began preparing dinner so Yuugao told Naruko to take a quick shower after all that hard work she had done today. Naruko nodded and quickly raced to the bathroom eager to clean herself. She turned on the shower and waited until the temperature was just right before hopping inside. She let out a sigh of contentment when she felt the hot water cascading along her body and just enjoyed the feeling before grabbing the shampoo and starting to wash her hair. Ten minutes later she turn off the water and noticed that she forget to bring some clothes to wear. Wrapping a towel around her she opened the door and went to her room. Luckily Anko hadn't seen her otherwise she would surely tease her again. After donning a comfortable pants and t-shirt she went to help with Anko and Yuugao.

After an enjoyable meal and evening Naruko went to bed once more with a smile on her face. She really liked living with Anko and Yuugao; no longer did she have to eat alone or go to bed without wishing someone goodnight. It was so different to was she was used to but already she could feel that she was getting used to it. She vowed to herself to do her very best to ensure she could stay with them for a very long time to come. Anyone who would try to take this away for her would have to deal with a very pissed off kunoichi.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their alerts or favorites. I was very happy to see that this story is to your liking judging from those stats. So, I will continue writing this story until the very end.

For the fans of my other Naruto story, all I can say is hang on. The next chapter is slowly taking shape and I decided that the next chapter would be the end of Naruto's training with Jiraiya. Originally, I had planned two more chapters but I can't seem to find anything to write about it anymore. I mean, you can only write so much about training. So, I think that by the end of next chapter Naruto and Jiraiya will arrive back at Konoha. That way we can move on to the more exciting things that have happened in the manga over the past few months and years.

Let me know what you guys thought about this chapter. Any remarks or suggestions are welcome. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Three: The Dangers of D-rank Missions

It had been two weeks already since Yuugao had become her sensei and Naruko was already seeing the effects Yuugao's training had on her. First of all she had learned the three-climbing skill which was one of the coolest things ever to Naruko. The ability to stick to ceilings and walls was just fantastic in her eyes. Next Yuugao had started her psychical training and boy was she a slave driver.

"While you may never become an ANBU, I'll make sure you're as strong as one." Yuugao had said when Naruko asked her why she had to wear weights and do all those extra exercises.

It had been very hard the first few days to move around with those weights but now she was slowly getting used to it. Yuugao made her run laps around the village while wearing them and her muscles protested painfully the next day but Yuugao promised it would all be worth it. Now they were doing their laps around the village enjoying the fresh air and tranquility of the morning.

Naruko and Yuugao were on their second lap around the village when all of the sudden they heard some yelling behind them. When they turned their head they saw a large dust cloud and two figures getting closer and closer.

"Oh please not them." Yuugao begged making Naruko wonder who it could be.

She looked back and at first she thought she was hallucinating and saw two big green pickles running around when she saw the two shapes approaching. She blinked twice and saw that it was in fact two men wearing green outfits. Pickle nr 1 was obviously the sensei as he was the older of the two; the man had obviously no sense of fashion and his hair style left much to desire as well. Didn't anyone tell this guy that it made him look stupid? But what freaked Naruko out the most were the large eyebrows that the man had. She turned to pickle nr 2 and noticed that the younger boy wore the exact some outfit and the same haircut and while less pronounced he too had large eyebrows.

"Yuugao-san, what a pleasure meeting you on your youthful run." Pickle nr 1 said giving Yuugao a thumbs up and a smile that showed perfect, white teeth.

"Good to see you too, Gai." Yuugao sighed. It wasn't that she had anything against him but he was just so loud. "Have you met my student, Uzumaki Naruko?"

"Naruko-san, it's an honor meeting you." Gai said. "This is my student and protégé Rock Lee."

"Nice to meet you." Naruko and Lee both said.

"How very youthful of you to train at this youthful hour." Gai said taking a pose. "Lee and I are also training our youthfulness by running laps around our youthful village."

"Yes well, don't let us hold you back." Yuugao said. "Naruko here is still getting used to her weights so we're a bit slow at the moment."

"Naruko-san, you wear weights too." Lee asked. "I myself am using weights as well."

"Euh, yes but I only just started so it isn't much yet." Naruko said. "It's only 10 pound on each limb."

"Haha, do not worry my youthful kunoichi." Gai laughed. "Soon you'll be as youthful as young Lee here. Lee, you better train hard or else Naruko-san here will surpass you."

"Yes Gai-sensei, I will up my training by running hundred laps around Konoha and if I don't succeed I will do ten thousand kicks and punches to the log." Lee said excited.

"That's my youthful student; you make me proud Lee." Gai said with teary eyes before hugging his student.

"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee yelled.

"LEE!" Gai yelled back and before Naruko could wonder what was going on as a beautiful sunset appeared behind the two hugging men. It was actually quite disturbing she thought. When Yuugao and Anko hugged it seemed natural and normal but when she looked at those two she couldn't help but shudder.

"Let's go Lee." Gai said before storming off with Lee hot on his tails.

"Naruko, remind to me reschedule our morning run to another time." Yuugao said quickly.

"That was weird. Really weird." Naruko nodded.

"That's Gai for you but don't underestimate him or his student." Yuugao said suppressing a shiver. "Gai is Konoha's best Taijutsu specialist and from what we've just seen that boy is about to follow in his footsteps if his outfit and hairstyle are any indication." She then started on their own training again with Naruko following her closely.

"I wonder how much weight Lee is wearing." Naruko said.

"Knowing Gai it will be a ridiculous amount. He always goes overboard when it comes to training." Yuugao laughed.

* * *

After their morning run they went up to the Hokage tower to get a mission for the day. They always tried to get there early as they would have first pick for the missions available. Naruko had quickly agreed with Yuugao that D-rank missions were a pain it the ass. They were boring and rarely there was any challenging mission amongst them. Naruko hoped that she would have to chase that damn cat again today.

When they entered the room where mission were handed out they saw a sleepy Iruka sitting behind the desk. He looked up and smiled at the two kunoichi and greeted them fondly. After a few minutes of small talk Yuugao asked what missions were available for the day.

"Let's see; there's Tora again." Yuugao and Naruko both put their arms in a cross showing that they didn't want that one. "There's also walking out the dog of Mrs. Yamaguchi." Again a cross sign. "Cleaning up the garbage at the riverside. " Cross. "And finally babysitting the three kids of the Tanaka household."

"They all suck." Yuugao said earning a nod from Naruko. "I guess we'll take the garbage duty one."

"Okay, here you go." Iruka said handing her the scroll. "Have fun." He snickered at the glare the two women gave him.

"Why did you pick this one?" Naruko said when they reached the river side. Naruko sighed at seeing all the rubbish that floated around.

"Because while doing this one I at least can teach you this." Yuugao said before walking to the middle of the river and standing there on top of the surface. "It's the next exercise in chakra control."

"Awesome." Naruko yelled. "How did you do that?"

Yuugao smiled at Naruko's enthusiasm and quickly explained how it worked. Naruko listened carefully to the explanation and was soon ready to try it out. Since the part of the river where they were supposed to clean wasn't that deep, only reaching just above her knees, Naruko wasn't too worried about getting soaking wet. She channeled some chakra to her feet and tentatively tried to stand on the water. Unfortunately she just managed to get wet feet and a snicker from Yuugao who was picking up a piece of garbage here and there leaving the most for Naruko.

It took Naruko about forty minutes before she could take a few steps on the surface but she was getting better every time. The garbage was already mostly cleared by that time as she picked up a piece each time she fell into the water. By now however she was soaking wet from head to toe and she thanked her lucky stars it was a beautiful day. Yuugao had returned home for a moment to get a towel so she could dry herself of when she was done. When noon came around Naruko was walking on water like she had done it her whole life. Soaked to the bone she picked up the last piece of garbage and headed back to the shore where Yuugao was waiting.

"Well done." Yuugao said impressed handing her the towel.

"Thanks, it was difficult at first but once I got the hang of it, things started going better." Naruko commented while drying herself off.

"Let's report the success of the mission and then we'll go get something to eat." Yuugao nodded. "How about we go get some ramen today."

Yuugao laughed at how Naruko reacted to the word ramen. She was practically pulled by the arm to get to the tower faster. When they told Iruka that the mission was completed he asked them how it went and Naruko proudly told him that she had learned to walk on water. Iruka's jaw dropped at hearing that she had managed to learn that skill in only a few hours. He congratulated her for learning so fast and asked her what else she had learned already. Naruko told him that she didn't have time to explain all that as they were heading for ramen at Ichiraku's.

* * *

When Naruko arrived at Ichiraku's she promptly ordered four bowl of Miso ramen and started talking with Ayame while she waited. Naruko introduced Yuugao and Ayame to each other and soon the girls were gossiping. Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku's and Ayame's father shook his head at the three but was secretly very glad Naruko had made another friend and got to have such a good teacher who treated her right. Naruko cleaned out her four bowls of ramen in record time and Yuugao told her that she didn't have to eat that fast but Naruko just said she was very hungry from all the water walking.

"Come on Naruko, we need to get started again." Yuugao said when lunchtime was over.

"Hai, sensei." Naruko said. "See you later Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-ossan." Naruko and Yuugao sped to their training ground and arrived only a few minutes later.

"Okay, first show me how far you've come with that Tsuchi-Bunshin." Yuugao asked. Naruko nodded and concentrated a few seconds before going through the handseals and seven seconds later a clone made out of mud stood next to Naruko. "Appearance is good but you need to work on speed. Once you managed to make a clone under two seconds I'll teach you another Bunshin jutsu. Work on that for a bit and after that we'll start training with your Tanto."

Naruko nodded before she started concentrating once more to make a clone; it was all about getting used to it at this point. She had the basics down and had more than enough chakra to make so all she had to do was practice making the clones. She actually liked the jutsu, it didn't have much combat potential but it was darn useful as Yuugao had demonstrated when she first taught her the jutsu. When she made a clone she had to picture the earth rising from the ground and taking her shape and in the beginning her clones were hideous to say the least; now however she had gotten used to the process and things went a lot faster. Suddenly she had an idea and tried to make two clones at the same time. She pictured two piece of earth rising and taking her shape while doing the handseals and to her surprise it work fairly well. They weren't perfect as they fell apart just before completion but she knew it was because she hadn't put enough chakra into the jutsu for two clones.

"What are you doing?" Yuugao asked her.

"Oh, I was just trying to make more than one clone." Naruko explained. "But it seems I didn't use enough chakra."

"Could you show me again?" Yuugao asked and Naruko tried once more putting almost twice the amount of chakra into the jutsu. Yuugao watched as two clones raised from the ground each resembling Naruko to the finest details. She was impressed as making more than one clone after only three days of practice was nothing to sneeze at. While the normal Bunshin no Jutsu was nothing more than an illusion created with chakra, the Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu used an extra element, earth which needed to be shaped and manipulated and that was something that took time to learn. Of course most Chuunin and Jounin had no trouble doing so but for a Genin fresh out of the academy this was actually very good.

"Not bad, only thing to improve now is the time but you'll get there." Yuugao said. "Alright enough of that, let's work on your Taijutsu and Tanto fighting."

Yuugao had showed Naruko several kata's that she needed to master both armed and unarmed. The armed kata's were mostly to incapacitate enemies who were unaware she was there; it was a style with grabbing the opponent in a lock and meanwhile disabling him with the Tanto. It was very effective as it a perfect why to kill without making too much sound therefore making it perfect for assassinations. The unarmed kata's were a Taijutsu style on which the ANBU style was based; it was the very basics of the ANBU fighting style and Yuugao had to argue and plead with the Sandaime to be allowed to teach her this style but in the end she received permission. The style was based on quick movements and quick kills as ANBU often had to work in situations where they had to be in and out in minutes. Right now however Naruko didn't have the necessary speed yet but she was getting the moves down and perfecting the stances. Each kata had a defensive and offensive version and Naruko had to learn both perfectly before she could move on to the next kata.

"Careful, try to keep your balance on that last kick." Yuugao corrected Naruko. "It will make the following attack easier and faster."

Naruko nodded and started all over again as was the agreement she had with Yuugao. If she made a mistake she had to start all over again from the beginning; that would help her learn the kata's faster and make sure she didn't learn the movements wrong. After finishing the kata's against an imaginary opponent Yuugao always made her practice against herself; they would go through the kata slow at first to get a reading on it and then gradually pick up the pace until Naruko could no longer follow. First Naruko would be on the offensive before they switched and Naruko was on the defensive; it proved to be a very challenging Taijutsu style but Naruko loved it. She had seen two ANBU practice their Taijutsu and she loved it; it was powerful and fast and that was exactly what she wanted in a Taijutsu style.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Yuugao said around six o'clock. "Tomorrow we'll move on to the second kata and maybe start working on a new jutsu."

"Thanks, Yuugao-sensei you're the best." Naruko smiled.

"Come on suck-up, let's go home." Yuugao laughed and walked away with Naruko following closely.

* * *

About a week later Yuugao and Naruko were heading to the Hokage tower to get a mission for the day. They were a little later than usual as Anko had a day off and she wanted to sleep in a little. This, of course meant that Yuugao stayed in bed a bit longer as well. Naruko truly hoped that whatever missions were left wouldn't totally suck as most good ones were gone in a matter of minutes. Arriving at the tower they saw Team 8 consisting out of Yuuhi Kurenai, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino leaving with a scroll in hand. Kiba didn't seem too happy and Naruko already feared what kind of mission she would get.

"Good morning Iruka; we're here for our mission." Yuugao said.

"Ah, this is a surprise; normally you two are always the first." Iruka said smiling. "I'm afraid there's only one mission left."

"What's the mission?" Naruko asked already dreading the answer.

"Babysitting young Ikari until this afternoon." Iruka snickered.

Naruko glared at Yuugao who pretended not to notice but she too didn't look forward to the mission. Babysitting was a tiring and nerve-racking mission which she disliked greatly. Seeing it was the only mission left she accepted it and dragged Naruko out of the tower. Once outside Naruko accepted the fact that this mission was going to happen so she might as well get it over with. After searching a bit for the right house they finally found it and rang the bell.

"Ah, you must be the team to babysit my Ikari-chan." The young woman said. "Please come in."

"Thank you." Both Yuugao and Naruko said and followed the woman inside.

"Ikari-chan has just eaten and I already gave him a bath." The young mother said. "He's playing now and should be quiet for a bit." She then explained at what time he usually got hungry again and when his nap time was before showing Naruko where the diapers and baby food could be found. She then went to her little boy and picked him up. "Ikari-chan, you be a good boy okay. Mommy will be back in the afternoon when her daytrip to the spa is done." She kissed him on the head and placed him back in his playpen before grabbing her purse and left.

"How unfair." Naruko complained. "She gets to enjoy herself while we have to babysit her brat."

"Now Naruko, every mother needs some time to relax every once in a while." Yuugao smiled before sitting in the couch reading a magazine.

Naruko sighed and kept an eye on the kid who was still playing quietly unaware his mother had just left. She had to admit that the kid was pretty cute and so far he had been no trouble at all. He even gave her some of his toys so she could play with him.

'Hm, maybe this won't be so bad after all.' Naruko thought.

* * *

Anko was enjoying her day off when she heard the door open and a furious Naruko stormed inside straight to her room slamming the door in the process. Anko blinked because this was the first time she had seen Naruko this mad and she wondered what had happened. Two seconds later a laughing Yuugao entered the apartment making her even more curious.

"What's so funny? And what's with Naru-chan?" Anko asked her lover.

"She just mad because of the mission we had today." Yuugao said between giggles. "We were late and got a babysitting job."

"Ouch." Anko said knowing how bad those little bastards could be. "Didn't go so well then huh?"

"You could say that." Yuugao said before laughing loudly. Suddenly the door to Naruko's room opened and Naruko's head appeared.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" She yelled before slamming the door shut again.

"At first things went really well but around noon things took a turn for worse." Yuugao explained. "Little Ikari wasn't cooperative at all."

"HE'S SPIT OUT HIS FOOD." Naruko yelled loudly. "STRAIGHT INTO MY EYES." Yuugao started laughing all over again and now even Anko could see the mental picture and a smile appeared on her face.

"That wasn't the worst of it." Yuugao said after she managed to control herself a bit. "He was a mess after eating so he needed a bath."

"He didn't like it, I assume." Anko said already guessing what had happened.

"He threw anything he could get his little hands on and Naruko had to endure some very loud crying on top of that." Yuugao laughed.

"STILL NOT FUNNY!" Naruko shouted from her room.

"But the cherry on the cake was when she needed to change his dirty diaper." Yuugao said wiping a tear away from laughter. "Somehow he managed to grab his dirty diaper and he threw it straight at her. She only just managed to duck sideways making it hit the wall."

"IT ALMOST HIT ME IN THE FACE. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT STINKS?" Naruko yelled once more. "I HATE KIDS." After laughing for another minute Yuugao and Anko finally took pity on Naruko and stopped laughing.

"Come on Naruko-chan, we're sorry for laughing." Yuugao said sincerely. "How about we go to the onsen to make it up?"

After a full minute of silence the door to Naruko's room opened and Naruko walked out. After securing a promise from both women not to mention the diaper incident anymore she agreed to go the onsen with them. The three gathered their washing materials and set out for the onsen at the other side of town. When they arrived Naruko was impressed at the building and she couldn't wait to get inside. She had heard a lot of things about onsen before but had never been to one. After paying the lady at the counter the three went to the women side of the baths and undressed.

Each carrying not but a small towel and their bathing materials the three entered the bathing area and sat down on the small stool so they could rinse themselves before entering the hot water. Naruko felt a little uncomfortable at being naked in front of all these unknown people.

"Are you sure there are no perverts here?" Naruko asked once more.

"Relax Naru-chan; no male can enter this side of the baths." Yuugao said to reassure the young blonde. "It's perfectly safe. Now let me wash your back."

Naruko nodded and allowed Yuugao to scrub her back. Soon all three of them were ready to enter the warm water and Yuugao and Anko didn't waste any time and got right in. Naruko, who had never been to an onsen before tentatively, put her foot in the water only to be surprised at how warm the water really was.

"So warm." She said to her companions. "How do you stand it?"

"You'll get used to it." Anko said. "Just go slowly or else splash some water over you so your skin gets used to the temperature."

Naruko nodded and slowly but surely got into the water. Once she got halfway in she felt like she had gotten used to it and sat down in front of Anko and Yuugao. She looked around a bit before relaxing and enjoyed the feeling of the warm water. It was something that so could enjoy she thought to herself. After a while they three started talking and true to their promise neither Yuugao nor Anko mentioned the mission from before. Suddenly Anko felt like playing and kissed Yuugao right in front of Naruko who looked on in fascination. She had already gotten used to Anko and her playful moods but it was still kind of new to see two women kissing.

"Ne, what's it like to be kissed?" Naruko asked suddenly.

"Well, it's very nice." Yuugao said after thinking a bit. "Especially when it's a person you love that kisses you. It shows that the person loves and trusts you."

"Did you ever kiss a boy?" Naruko asked knowing that it was okay to ask questions about this subject to her neechans.

"Nope, Yuu-chan is the only person I ever kissed." Anko proudly said.

"I kissed a boy before." Yuugao nodded. "It was before I was together with Anko but I was still young at that time. I didn't realize I liked girls more than boys until Anko kissed me."

"How did that happen?" Naruko asked curiously.

"Well, Anko and I have always been friends and one night we were so drunk that we kissed and spend the night together." Yuugao smiled at the memory. "When I woke up I knew she was the one who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

"That's it? You were drunk?" Naruko said surprised.

"I know it might not sound very romantic but at that time it was fantastic." Anko nodded. "The best decision I made so far."

"Why these questions? Do you have someone you like?" Yuugao teased.

"No, it's not that." Naruko said. "I just wondered what it felt like."

"Don't you worry Naru-chan." Anko said. "One day you'll meet a special person and then you'll find out what it's like. I promise."

Naruko nodded smiling and they switched to other things to talk about. A half hour later it was time to go and both women promised Naruko that they would come back the next week. By the time they got home Naruko had all but forgotten the diaper incident had ever happened and she was in a very good mood. The rest of the evening she spend reading and talking with her housemates and went to back with a smile on her face just like she did every night ever since she moved in with Yuugao and Anko.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I hope it was okay. If not then let me know what was bad and I'll try to work on it. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter Four: Of C-ranks and affinities

Finally after two months of training with Yuugao and doing a D-rank mission (_kuch_ Chores _Kuch_) a day Naruko was finally deemed ready for a C-rank mission. In fact Naruko had long surpassed the necessary amounts of D-rank missions but Yuugao wanted to make sure her student was ready for the responsibility and the danger a C-rank mission could be. Yuugao was extremely proud of her pupil and told Naruko that numerous times. In two months time Naruko had learned six of the ten basic kata of the Taijutsu style to perfection. The other four she was still learning but she already could do them in an adequately fashion. Her Ninjutsu had improved as well and Naruko now had 'Tsuchi-Bunshin', 'Mizu-Bunshin', 'Henge', 'Kawarimi', 'Bunshin no Jutsu', ' Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu' and 'Doton: Doryuuheki No Jutsu' in her arsenal. Yuugao had refused to teach her any offensive jutsu until she had mastered these to perfection and while Naruko protested at first she had eventually accepted it.

But what had changed to most was Naruko's speed. Thanks to all the weights and the training Naruko had acquired almost low Chuunin level speed. This might not seem very impressive but for a Genin it was actually very good. Yuugao knew that Naruko wouldn't be able to compete with Lee once he removed his weights but it was a start. Combining that speed with her Tanto fighting style and you had one deadly kunoichi in the making.

Naruko had also fully opened up to Anko and Yuugao and she truly considered them family now. In the beginning she had been a bit hesitant but now she knew she could trust both women with her life and soul. It felt really good to have a family and it had changed Naruko's look on life. It was noticeable when she started to joke around like Anko did though not so extreme much to Yuugao's relief as one Anko was more than enough.

"So, ready to get that C-rank mission?" Yuugao asked after their morning run around the village.

"You bet Sensei." Naruko enthusiastically answered. "I've been waiting for this. No more stupid D-ranks."

"Don't get your hopes up." Yuugao warned her. "Some C-rank missions are equally dull."

"Gee, thanks for ruining my hopes." Naruko grumbled.

"You're very welcome." Yuugao laughed a bit.

When they reached the tower they noticed that they were first to arrive and Naruko was very happy about that. After the 'diaper incident' she had made sure that they were never late again when it came to mission selection. She'd rather do no mission than having a mission like that again. Iruka wasn't there anymore as the summer holidays had reached their end last week so now it was the Hokage and some unknown Chuunin that handled the missions' handout.

"Good morning Hokage-sama." Yuugao said while Naruko flashed the man a bright smile.

"Ah good morning you two, here for a mission I presume?" Sandaime greeted them. "What kind of mission did you have in mind?"

"I think a C-rank mission will be fine, Hokage-sama." Yuugao said.

"A C-rank you say?" The Hokage said hesitantly. "I don't know…."

"Don't mess with me Ji-chan." Naruko warned glaring at him. "You know I'm ready for one."

"Hahaha, don't worry I was just teasing you." The Hokage laughed. "Here you go, one C-rank mission."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. We'll be off then." Yuugao said accepting the two scrolls smiling.

"Good luck." The Hokage said. 'And be careful out there, Naru-chan.' He silently thought.

Yuugao and Naruko exited the tower and secluded themselves enough so that they were alone to read the scroll with the assignment on. It turned out to be a very straightforward mission as all they had to do was deliver the second scroll to a nearby town a few hours away from Konoha. Naruko complained that this was basically a D-rank mission just outside the village.

"Remember Naruko that once you leave the village anything can happen." Yuugao warned her. "We might be attacked by mercenaries, bandits or even shinobi. This is why missions outside the village are always categorized as C-rank or higher."

"Do you think we'll get attacked?" Naruko asked her sensei.

"Since this is a low C-rank mission the risk is very low but you never know." Yuugao said shrugging. "Alright, let's get going."

* * *

After securing their equipment and last minute check the two kunoichi left through the immense gate that guarded Konoha and took the shinobi express (leaping through trees and high speed running) and headed toward their destination. Yuugao explained that they were lucky enough to be able to travel like this as often when you escort someone you have to travel at their pace which seems awfully slow to a shinobi. The two of them would reach the town in about three hours time while otherwise they would have to travel at least half a day if not more when you added resting time.

The trip had gone without any trouble and they had made excellent progress thanks to Naruko's stamina. Had it been another Genin they would have been forced to take a small break but Naruko didn't need one and she was able to travel at an adequate speed much to Yuugao's pride and delight. When the village came into view Yuugao and Naruko dropped from the trees and walked the remaining distance. Naruko, who had never left Konoha before looked around like a kid in a candy store but managed to control herself until the mission was over. Yuugao had promised that once the mission was done they could spend an hour or so looking around.

"Who do we have to deliver the scroll to?" Naruko asked.

"We need to find a place called 'The Wanderer's Inn'." Yuugao read from the scroll. "There, we must deliver the scroll to a certain Miyazaki Toshiro."

It took them ten more minutes to find the Inn they were looking for and Naruko was impressed. She had thought that the place would be some run-down sleazy hotel like so many she had seen before but to her surprise this one was actually very new and obviously aimed at the richer crowd as it seemed very luxurious. When Yuugao asked the receptionist to speak with the manager the woman hurried to her boss' office and came back half a minute later saying they could go in.

"Miyazaki-san, I presume?" Yuugao said to the man.

"Ah, you must be the Konoha Team that would deliver my scroll for me." The man said smiling.

"That's correct, sir." Yuugao said handing over the scroll after confirming the man's identity. "If you would sign here as proof of delivery."

"Of course." He quickly signed the receipt confirming that he had received the scroll without any trouble. "Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you for relying on Konoha and our services." Yuugao and Naruko bowed. "We hope to do business with you again in the near future."

* * *

Now that the mission was over Naruko pulled Yuugao all over town looking around. To Naruko it was strange seeing people looking at them in reverence and when she asked about Yuugao told her that it was because they were shinobi. While villagers of Konoha were used to seeing ninja, people from other towns and cities rarely saw or met a shinobi and thus they were still shrouded in mystery. Naruko accepted that answer and continued looking around. When they came to a large marketplace where several stands were selling food or small souvenirs Naruko and Yuugao mixed in with the crowd and browsed around.

Naruko was enjoying the little stands and she hoped she would be able to see them all before Yuugao deemed it time to leave again. She noticed that Yuugao was ahead looking at some stand and made her way over through the crowd when suddenly she felt a hand touching her left butt cheek. Enraged she turned around grabbing the offending hand and squeezed hard making the owner of the hand yell out in pain. When she saw the man that had touched her Naruko narrowed her eyes at him and unconsciously blasted him with killing intent making the man froth at the mouth before he fainted. Yuugao, who had sensed Naruko's distress was immediately at her side calming her down.

"Naru-chan, take a deep breath and relax." Yuugao said calmly. "What happened?" Although she had an idea she still needed to know.

"I was walking towards you when I felt a hand touching me." Naruko said after taking a few cleansing breaths. "I grabbed it and turned around and saw him. Then he started gurgling and he fainted."

"Naru-chan, you blasted him with so much killing intent he literally saw his own death." Yuugao explained. "What were you thinking when you looked at him?"

"I was thinking about how I would rip _it_ off and make him eat _it_." Naruko said angry.

"That would do it." Yuugao smiled. "He probably didn't notice you were a kunoichi otherwise he wouldn't have groped you."

Naruko nodded and looked at the man laying there on the ground still shivering about what he had seen and perceived as real. She really hated men that touched her so he deserved every bit of it Naruko thought. Yuugao told her that the man would think twice before groping a woman from now on and they left him laying there for everyone to see. The crowd that had formed had a lot of women and most of them had been submitted to the same thing once or twice in their life before so they took advantage of it and gave the man some payback by kicking and hitting him while he was down.

It took Naruko an hour to calm down and even then she was still very upset. It was this sort of behavior that made her untrusting of men and while she knew not all men were like that it was very hard not to put them all in the same category. Yuugao had managed to calm her down and explain that there were men that just didn't understand the rules. Naruko really doubted she would ever trust a boy or man enough to let him touch her like a lover could.

When they reached Konoha Naruko had decided to stop thinking about it and just accept the fact that as a girl and woman she would have to deal with perverts on a regular basis but she wasn't about to let them get away with it though. If she encountered one that tried anything to her or another woman he would pay for his behavior with the loss of _it_. That'll teach the bastards she grinned. Yuugao told her that they needed to report the success of the mission and after that they would enjoy a nice bath at the onsen. Naruko nodded and followed her to the Hokage Tower. When they arrived at the tower a certain team under the guidance of Hatake Kakashi just exited the building and both Naruko and Yuugao glared at the gray-haired, one-eyed shinobi for reading his perverted book in public. Kakashi was used to being glared at for reading his book and didn't bother turning around until he felt a bit of killing intent aimed at him. He stopped in mid step and turned around but nobody was there.

"Kakashi-sensei, we're waiting you know." Sakura complained. 'Shannaro, what did I do to deserve a teacher like him?'

"Aha, sorry Sakura." Kakashi said hurrying after his team so they could do their bi-daily D-rank mission.

The Sandaime was having a good day as for once he didn't have paperwork up to his elbows. This allowed him to catch up with some less important and demanding stuff that had been accumulating over the past few weeks. Those matters were usually regarding the villagers' requests and complaints but as Hokage he was supposed to deal with all that as well. Some of them were really stupid like complaints that a neighbor's dog barked too much or petty arguments and some were more important like someone wanting to build an extra floor to his house. All of this was the duty of the Hokage so it was no wonder that there were days where he was buried with paperwork.

As he was reviewing one request his favorite granddaughter had returned from her first C-rank mission and he felt very proud of her. He had been watching her training and he was very impressed with her improvements over the past two months. He wondered why she hadn't started on her father's techniques yet but he figured that Yuugao had something to do with that. Assigning her to be Naruko's Jounin sensei had been the best decision he had made the past few months.

"Ah, welcome back you two." He greeted them. "Everything went fine, I hope?"

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Yuugao bowed. "Mission complete sir."

"Excellent job." Sandaime smiled at Naruko who nodded with a slight blush on her face.

"It wasn't all that much, Ji-chan." Naruko said. "Just delivering a scroll, no big deal."

"On the contrary Naruko, every mission is a big deal." The Sandaime explained. "These missions keep the village afloat and we need each and every one of them. Thanks to these missions, no matter how insignificant they might seem, our village is flourishing and successful. That's why we need to be sure to keep the clients happy so they'll want to do business with us again. Maybe today the mission for that particular client was just to deliver a scroll but maybe in the future he might rely on us for a higher ranked mission. Every successful mission is a possible future mission."

"Well, in that case I'll just have to do my best to keep the clients happy." Naruko said understanding what the man was saying.

"I'm sure you will." Sandaime said before dismissing them so he could return to his paperwork wanting to get most of it done before he retired for the evening.

* * *

Yuugao took Naruko straight home to get their bathing supplies so they could enjoy a nice soak in the onsen. Unfortunately Anko couldn't join them as she was still on duty but they went anyway knowing that she wouldn't mind all that much. On their way over to the onsen they encountered Kurenai and her team as they had just returned from reporting the completion of their mission. Kurenai who saw them coming in their direction waved at the two and made her way over, her team following closely.

"Yuugao, Naruko-chan how have you two been?" Kurenai asked pleasantly.

"We've been doing okay, haven't we Naruko." Yuugao said. "Is this your team?"

"Ah yes I would like you to meet a very good friend of mine, Uzuki Yuugao and her student Uzumaki Naruko." Kurenai said to her students. "This is Hinata, Kiba and Shino."

"Nice to meet you all." Yuugao said smiling. "How do you like teaching so far, Kurenai?"

"It's been a challenge but very rewarding." Kurenai said. "We have been getting better and better at teamwork and I'm sure that in a few weeks they might be ready for their first C-rank mission."

"Really? That's great." Yuugao said refraining from mentioning that she and Naruko took a C-rank earlier that day.

"How's Yuugao as a teacher Naruko?" Kurenai asked her.

"Oh Yuugao-sensei is the best. She's really strict at times but she has taught me so much already." Naruko said beaming at her teacher.

"Hey, Naruko and I are just on our way to the onsen so how about you and Hinata here join us." Yuugao asked them.

"I-I-I'm sorry Y-Yuugao-sensei but m-my f-father expects me h-home straight after t-the mission for p-practice." Hinata said declining the offer.

"That's too bad but maybe another time then?" Yuugao said nodding. She knew just how big the stick up Hiashi's ass was as she had dealt with him before as an ANBU.

That being said the three women said their goodbye's, Kurenai giving her students the order to gather at the normal hour the next day, and went to enjoy themselves. Luckily it wasn't very crowed at that time of the day and Naruko went straight ahead and parked herself on a stool and started washing herself. Yuugao looked at her and figured that she wanted to make sure that she was clean after having that man touch her earlier. Once she was done Naruko went over to the warm bath and jumped in; she was used to the hot water by now and she had no trouble what so ever getting into the water. Yuugao and Kurenai joined her shortly after and soon they started talking about little things like how annoying Asuma's smoking is or how irritating Kakashi could be with his perverted book. After that it changed more into discussing their students and Naruko listened intently to what Kurenai was telling.

"Hinata is really shy and she hates to spar as she's afraid of hurting her teammates." Kurenai sighed. "I've tried everything but I can't seem to get through to her."

"Have you tried scaring her?" Naruko asked.

"What do you mean by scaring her?" Kurenai wondered. At this point she was willing to try anything.

"Well, you're Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress right?" Naruko said getting a nod. "Why don't you put a Genjutsu on her where because of her weakness her teammates get killed?"

"That sounds a bit much." Kurenai hesitated.

"No, Naru-chan is right." Yuugao agreed with her student. "If Hinata is unwilling to fully use her potential in the field that's what could happen. She needs to understand that she's risking not only her life by holding back but also her teammate's lives."

"I don't know." Kurenai said. "It might work but it could also break her beyond repair."

"If she can't handle it then she didn't have what it takes to be a kunoichi." Naruko said calmly. "It's sad because Hinata has a lot of talent, much more than Sakura or Ino but she refuses to use it. Don't get me wrong though, I think she's a nice person and probably a good friend if I knew her better but being a kunoichi isn't fun and games. It was okay in the academy but in real life she needs to either step up or step down."

"I can see why you're so proud of your student." Kurenai said to Yuugao.

"Oh Naru-chan is a joy to teach. She's serious in her training and she's talented to boot." Yuugao winked at Naruko. "On top of that she's cute as a button."

That made the two women laugh loudly at seeing Naruko's blush as she turned bright red at the 'cute' comment. After spending a bit more time in the water it was time to leave and Kurenai promised to think about what Naruko had said. Yuugao and Naruko wished her good luck and left for home as well.

* * *

The next day Naruko had all but forgotten about yesterday's events and she was in a very good mood. The reason was that she would be allowed to learn two new jutsu today. Not just any jutsu but offensive jutsu; until now Yuugao had refused to teach her any but last night she had told her that she deemed her ready. Needless to say Naruko was very impatient to know what kind of jutsu she would learn but first came a pesky D-rank mission. It was a D-rank mission today because no C-rank was available at the moment that only she and Yuugao could do. But even that couldn't ruin her day and she buckled up and just did the stupid and boring D-rank. The faster she had this done the faster she would get to training.

"Alright Naruko, that's it for this mission." Yuugao nodded after inspecting Naruko's painting abilities. "I'm guessing Mrs. Yamaguchi will be very pleased with how her fence turned out."

"I still think she should have chosen a different color." Naruko argued. "White is so cliché."

"Not our call to make, Naru-chan." Yuugao smiled. "Now get cleaned up and we'll continue our training at the usual place."

"Gotcha." Naruko said and sped away to wash the paint off her hands and face.

After she scrubbed all the paint off Naruko hurried to the training field where Yuugao was waiting for her. Of course being the kind teacher she is, Yuugao first made Naruko do all her other exercises and training before she started on the new Jutsu training. Yuugao laughed at Naruko's frustrated face but she told her that good things come to those who wait.

"Okay, let's move on to what you've been waiting for all day." Yuugao laughed. "I'll teach you two new Jutsu today and which ones will depend on your chakra affinity."

"Chakra affinity?" Naruko asked curious. "What's that?"

"I'll show you." Yuugao said before taking out a piece of paper. "This is a piece of paper made from a tree that was grown with chakra. When someone focuses chakra into it will have a reaction depending on the affinity of said person. Watch." Yuugao said and she focused a bit of chakra causing the piece of paper to become soaking wet. "This means my affinity is Suiton. This will make learning and performing Suiton Jutsu easier for me. On the other hand Raiton Jutsu are very difficult for me to perform, let alone master. With me so far?"

"I got it." Naruko nodded. "So if I'm right there are five different affinities like the kind of jutsu?"

"That's right. There's Suiton, Raiton, Katon, Doton and Fuuton." Yuugao said. "Katon burns the paper, Suiton makes it wet, Doton turns it to dust, Raiton crumples it and Fuuton cuts it in half." She took out another piece of paper and told Naruko to focus chakra in it.

Naruko grabbed the paper and did as she was told. As soon as she focused chakra inside it the paper split in half with both sides crumpling up. Naruko looked at Yuugao in shock and asked what had just happened.

"Well, it seems you have affinity for both Fuuton and Raiton." Yuugao said. "While most Jounin have more than one affinity, it is pretty rare to find a Genin who has two from the start. You're both lucky and unlucky."

"Why is that?" Naruko asked.

"Because usually by the time people start developing their second affinity they already have mastered their first making training a bit easier." Yuugao explained. "You have two options. Either you work on both at the same time or you pick one to learn now and start on the other later. It's your choice."

"Hmmm, if I choose to learn both right now I'll need to train much harder won't I?" Naruko wondered making Yuugao nod in agreement. "Do you know Fuuton and Raiton Jutsu, Sensei?"

"I know a few of both but neither of them are my strong points." Yuugao said. "My affinities are Suiton and Katon."

"Well, extra training never scared me so I chose to learn both at the same time." Naruko decided. "I don't care if it take me a bit longer to learn master them."

"Yes, well you won't master them anyway as to do that you need to learn Nature manipulation first." Yuugao said. "What we just did was to determine what Jutsu would be easier for you to learn. Once you're Chuunin level then maybe we can start on nature manipulation."

"Geez, why don't they teach all that in the academy?" Naruko complained. "You keep on telling things I've never heard of."

"Naru-chan, the academy is to prepare your body and mind for the actual shinobi training from your Jounin sensei." Yuugao explained. "Besides most Genin, and all academy students for that matter, are unable to even learn chakra manipulation. Only the gifted few reach that level before several years of training and being a shinobi."

"Still, it wouldn't have hurt to mention it once or twice." Naruko pouted.

"Ok, enough whining and let's get to work." Yuugao said. "Like I promised I'll teach you one jutsu from each element. First is the Fuuton: Daitoppa no Jutsu." Yuugao then explained the handseals before she showed what the jutsu did. She then had Naruko practice the handseals a few times before giving her permission to try it out. Naruko nodded and concentrated for a few seconds before rushing through the handseals, focusing chakra in her lungs and then exhaled.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa no Jutsu" her voice sounded through the clearing and a second later a strong wind erupted blowing branches and everything not attached several yards away. Naruko looked proud of succeeding the jutsu on the first try and Yuugao seemed impressed as well.

"Well done, Naruko-chan." Yuugao said impressed. "That was excellent; I can see that Fuuton jutsu won't give you any trouble to learn."

"Thanks Sensei." Naruko blushed at the praise.

"Okay, now for the Raiton jutsu."Yuugao continued. "This jutsu is called 'Raiton: Dengeki Te no Jutsu'. What it does is create a small layer of chakra over your hands which will numb, stun, hurt or kill the opponent according to the amount of chakra you put into it." She then showed the jutsu and a blue glow appeared over her hand and she touched Naruko's arm. Naruko flinched when she felt the chakra numb her arm making it impossible to move it. "Don't worry; it will wear off in a few seconds."

True to Yuugao's words Naruko regained mobility in her arm a few seconds later and she started to practice the handseals until she felt confident enough to try it. After performing the handseals she concentrated her chakra in her hands and just like with her sensei a blue glow covered her hands showing she had succeeded into doing the jutsu.

"Good job, Naruko-chan." Yuugao congratulated her. "Remember the more chakra you put into it the more damage it will cause. It's a very handy jutsu that almost every ANBU knows and uses regularly in missions when needed to subdue prisoners."

The next few hours of the day Naruko spend practicing the two new jutsu she had learned. Yuugao stood by and watched as Naruko repeated the jutsu time and time again without resting. After seeing her do this for three hours Yuugao started wondering just how much chakra and stamina Naruko had. Even she wouldn't be able to do this for so long she knew. She decided to ask Naruko about it.

"Naruko-chan, stop for a moment please." Yuugao said calling her over. "You must be getting tired and low on chakra, right?"

"Hmm, well it's getting harder to do them yes." Naruko nodded. "But I think I could go on for another half an hour or so."

"Really?" Yuugao asked getting a nod. "Nevertheless, let's stop for today. If you were to continue you would surely get exhausted and that might ruin tomorrow's activities."

"Oh, if you think so." Naruko said not wanting to risk not getting a C-rank the next day due to being too tired.

Once Naruko was asleep Yuugao told Anko what she had learned today and Anko was also very impressed with the blonde. Not many shinobi would be able to practice a jutsu over and over again for hours on end; least of all a Genin. Yuugao felt absolutely giddy about what this meant for the future; she knew Naruko was strong for a Genin but in those aspects she stood largely above the rest. Naruko would go far she knew and she would do everything in her power to help her reach her dream. She lost all thoughts about that when Anko cuddled closer.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. The last few weeks have been very hectic for me and it's cut down on my writing time. Don't worry though, things will get better soon. For the fans of my other Naruto story, I can only apologize. I've tried to write the next chapter and was halfway through when I realized it was pure crap. I don't know what's going on with that but it just won't work. It's so frustrating as I had great plans for that story but now everything I came up with seems wrong. I will NOT abandon the story but please have patience a bit longer.

* * *

Chapter Five: Of bandits, hostages and a godfather

Three months had passed since Naruko's first C-rank mission and Naruko had gotten a lot more experienced at doing C-rank missions. She had done at least 3 C-ranks a week for the past few months and had learned a lot from it. Yuugao had also taught her a few more jutsu during those months and her Taijutsu had improved so much that Yuugao had decided to move on to the more advanced kata. Granted, she still had a lot of trouble mastering these but that didn't stop her from practicing.

Other than her Taijutsu and Ninjutsu they focused on her speed and stamina training. Yuugao gave Naruko new weights every time she noticed Naruko had gotten used to the ones she used at the time. Thanks to that training her speed had improved to such levels that Naruko was easily as fast as a high level Chuunin. It was exactly what Yuugao and Naruko had aimed for and thanks to her stamina Naruko could keep that speed going for a long time. They had also focused on Chakra control and Naruko had mastered every exercise Yuugao could think of and now had very decent control; it would never be perfect but it was definitely a huge improvement over a few months ago.

Naruko had also started on the scrolls that her parent's left her. Especially her father's Rasengan had gotten her attention; when she had tried to learn it as soon as she got the scroll she found out that she just didn't have the control necessary to perform the jutsu but after months of training she just knew that the jutsu was within her reach. Therefore she had secretly (with Anko in cahoots) started learning her father's prized jutsu hoping to impress Yuugao when she showed it to her. Practicing in secret wasn't easy as she both trained and lived with Yuugao but Anko was willing to distract her lover so that Naruko could practice without having to worry about Yuugao finding out. Naruko still blushed when Anko explained how she would distract Yuugao.

She hadn't seen or heard much from the other Genin teams but that didn't bother her too much. While she had nothing against the others the thought of having to see Sakura and Ino fawn over the Uchiha turned her stomach. After spending almost half a year with Anko and Yuugao, both of them the epitome of kunoichi, she would surely lose her patience and kick their asses for giving kunoichi a bad name. She didn't have any disillusions about the two of them having changed over the past few months. Yuugao had even told her that the other Jounin sensei had only started allowing C-rank missions two months ago. If that was any indication of how far she ahead of the others she felt a bit sorry for them.

"Come on Naru-chan, time to get a mission." Yuugao shouted.

"Coming!" Naruko answered and tied her hair in her customary ponytail before hurrying out of the bathroom.

"I wonder what mission we'll get today." Yuugao said wondering. "Hopefully not another escort mission or something like that."

"God, I hope not." Naruko agreed. "I hate those missions."

They had done several of those in the past and they both disliked it immensely. First of all was the slow pace traveling; having to adjust to a civilian's way of travel was not a good thing in their minds. Secondly, most of those needed to be escorted were men who either whined about them being guarded by women or were perverts who couldn't keep their eyes of them. Luckily none of them was stupid enough to try anything but Naruko figured it was only a matter of time before one of them couldn't handle it and made a move.

"Aha, my favorite kunoichi." Sandaime said smiling at the two. "I was just about to call for the two of you."

"Good morning Hokage-sama." Yuugao greeted her leader while Naruko just smiled and waved a hand.

"I have a special mission for the two of you." Sandaime said. "It's high C-rank. Are you up for it?"

"You bet, Ji-chan." Naruko said enthusiastic and Yuugao nodded as well.

"Alright; we received a distress message from a village where a gang has taken the mayor and his family hostage." Sandaime said gravely. "They demand several million Ryo which of course the village doesn't have. Your mission is to save the hostages."

"What about the gang?" Yuugao asked. "Are we allowed to use lethal force?"

"You are allowed to use whatever means necessary to rescue the hostages." Sandaime nodded. "This gang has been involved in many activities and must be stopped once and for all."

"We accept the mission." Yuugao said.

* * *

Once outside they headed home to alert Anko of their mission and to prepare a few scroll with things they might need. Soon they were on their way to the village which was a day traveling. They would travel the first part using the shinobi express but once they got close they would conserve energy to fight. When they finally stopped for the night, a few miles from the village, Yuugao took the scroll which had a plan of the village and where the hostages were kept.

"Ne, Yuugao sensei don't you think it's a bit weird to get a map and location?" Naruko wondered.

"No, not really." Yuugao said. "Sometimes we know nothing of the surrounding or have little or no information. In this case the village must have done business with Konoha before. Once a village asks for our help, Konoha gathers every piece of information available of the place. Maps, lay-outs, population numbers, store locations and so on are all investigated and kept in the archives so that if they need us again we have information available.

"Oh, making it easier for us." Naruko nodded in understanding.

"Exactly." Yuugao smiled. "Now, according to this map the hostages are held in the mayor family home. Good side of this is that the mayor's home is located to the side of the village against a large cliff. Bad side is that the kidnappers will surely have the place surrounded with guards."

"So how do we proceed?" Naruko asked.

"We'll move in from the cliff side." Yuugao said after thinking a bit. "Chances are that they haven't noticed that someone managed to make a distress message for help yet so they won't expect us so soon. Unfortunately we don't know the number of kidnappers."

"But we're lucky they're not Missing-Nin." Naruko remarked earning a nod.

"Hokage-sama wouldn't allow just two shinobi to do this mission if there were any Missing-Nin involved." Yuugao agreed. "So, we'll come in from the cliff side and take out anyone we encounter. No mercy, these men are scum and the world will be better off without them." Naruko nodded. Killing wasn't as big a deal as it was in the beginning; she had made her first kill months ago and she had been very upset about it but with the help from Yuugao and Anko she had accepted it and learned how to deal with it. She still didn't like it but understood that it had to be done. "Once we took care of those guards outside we move into to house. We'll have to be careful not to alert them of our presence."

"Got it." Naruko nodded.

"Okay, let's get some rest and we strike at 0400 hours." Yuugao ordered. "You take first watch and I'll relieve you in 3 hours."

* * *

At 3h30 Yuugao woke Naruko up and they move to the large cliff that guarded the house of the mayor. Once they were one top of it they had a clean overview of the mayor's home. It had 3 buildings which complicated the matters a bit since they didn't know where the hostages were held. Surrounding the property was a wall with four guards standing in each corner. On top of that there was one guard on the roof of each building.

"Alright, Naruko you move in from the west side and I'll take the east side." Yuugao said. "First we take out the guards on the walls. Once those are done you take the one on the roof of the main building and I'll deal with the other two." Naruko nodded her understanding. "We'll meet up behind the second building before going inside."

The two separated and each started to descend the cliff using chakra to stick to the rock. Silently Naruko positioned her behind the guard, careful not to be noticed and without a sound, she struck. In a move too fast to be seen by ordinary people she placed her hand on the guards' mouth and shoved a kunai in the back of his neck severing the brain stem, killing him instantly and painlessly. Taking a look around she knew nobody had seen or heard anything. The other guard on the wall hadn't moved a muscle and she jumped over the side of the wall, running alongside it to just where the man stood. Like a tigress she leaped up behind him and repeats the same moves as she did with the other one. Now she only had one guard left to deal with.

She jumped onto the soft grass of the garden and made way over to the main building. So far she hadn't been noticed and she caught a glimpse of Yuugao behind the second building. Naruko didn't waste any more time and crawled on the roof. The guard on the roof was obviously drunk as a mule as he was half asleep sitting there without a care in the world. Naruko made her move and the man never realized he left the plain of the living as she stabbed him with a kunai in the back of his head.

Meanwhile Yuugao had also dealt with her two guards who didn't stand a chance against the ex-ANBU. She jumped down and waited for Naruko to join her. Not even five seconds later Naruko arrived and nodded showing she had completed her tasks. Yuugao smiled and motioned her to get closer. Using their hand signs she told Naruko that they would take a look in the two side buildings first. They would each take one and meet up in two minutes again.

Naruko managed to peek inside the building but was disappointed that all she found was a storage room. Nothing seemed to be disturbed and there was no sign of anyone being inside. She then waited for Yuugao to return. When she returned Yuugao told her that she didn't find anything either. The building was a dojo but was completely empty. That meant that the rest of the kidnappers and the hostages were all located in the main building.

Yuugao and Naruko knew they had to move fast as they would surely notice the death of their comrades sooner or later. Yuugao pointed to a window on the second floor of the building and they walked on the wall to reach it. After using a small mirror to look inside the room they noticed that it was empty. They opened the window and jumped inside the room and listened for any noise. The house had several rooms on the second floor and they would have to make sure that if there were any men here so they could deal with them. Opening the door a bit Yuugao once more used the mirror to look into the hallway. She saw two men sitting on a chair reading a book or some kind of magazine. The distance between the door and the men wouldn't allow her or Naruko just to exit the room and kill them. They would have enough time to spot her and sound the alarm. Naruko took something out of her pouch and handed it to Yuugao.

It was a small blowpipe with a few arrows. Yuugao watched in curiosity at Naruko wondering where she had gotten that but gladly took it. Naruko signed that the arrows were dipped in a tranquilizer, strong enough to put a horse to sleep in three seconds. Yuugao grinned and nodded before she placed two darts into the blowpipe and opened door enough to get a good aim. She focused some charka into her lungs so that the dart would have enough velocity to hit the men before they knew it. As soon as she exhaled the darts were send through the air both hitting the men in the neck area. They didn't even feel the dart hitting them and were unconscious before their body hit the floor. Naruko and Yuugao crept out of the room and started inspecting the other rooms for any presence with came up empty. It seemed the rest of them were all downstairs. They descended the stairs and halfway they stopped as they heard a child cry and voices so they decided to listen in.

"Goddamit, can't you stop that stupid brat from crying." One voice bellowed.

"Please, she's only a child." A female voice answered. "She's frightened and scared."

"Well, she's going to be dead if she doesn't shut the hell up." The first voice yelled angry.

"Please don't hurt my baby." A second man begged.

"You better hope this stupid village comes up with the money." The first voice said. "Or else none of you will get out of here alive."

"You don't understand." The voice begged. "We're just a small village. We don't have that kind of resources."

"Shut up." The first voice yelled out and the sound of someone being kicked or punched could be heard followed by a cry of pain.

Yuugao and Naruto shared a look and understood that the situation was bad. The kidnappers were getting impatient and stressed; this was bad as people like that did stupid things and were unpredictable. They descend the stairs and hid behind the wall that separated the living area with the rest of the house. For there they could see five men of which two were surrounding a couple with a small child. They hostages seemed in good shape and didn't appear to be injured which was something both Yuugao and Naruko were glad for. The kidnappers themselves were armed with swords and knives and were still in good psychical condition for the late hour.

Yuugao took out two tags and bound them to two kunai. Naruko watched and understood what Yuugao had planned. Nodding Yuugao threw both kunai into the room with kidnappers and a second later a bright light exploded from the room. In perfect coordination Yuugao and Naruko jumped into the room and engaged the kidnappers. Yuugao engaged the ones further away from the hostages while Naruko dealt with the two guarding the mayor and his family.

The kidnappers heard the two kunai embed themselves into the wooden floor before a bright light blinded them. Then one screamed out in pain as he got stabbed in the chest. Another screamed when his right arm got severed from the rest of his body before being silenced for good when his head rolled on the floor. Yuugao showed the third one no mercy and just cut him down from shoulder to groin. Naruko had already dealt with her two kidnappers and disposed of them with a simple stab in the head and heart.

"Don't open your eyes." Naruko instructed the family. "Your safe now, we're from Konoha."

"T-thank y-you." The woman said shielding her child's eyes with her hand while allowing Naruko to guide her to another room. Yuugao followed with the mayor himself.

"How can we ever thank you?" The mayor said after he made sure his family was okay.

"No need Sir; we were just doing our job." Yuugao said. "You and your village are loyal customers of Konoha and we protect one of ours."

"Please stay for breakfast." The woman said while holding her daughter. "It's the least we can do."

"Very well, thank you." Yuugao nodded smiling. "Naruko, why don't you stay with them while I dispose of the bodies?"

"Okay." Naruko nodded.

After Yuugao had disposed of the bodies and the mayor had reassured the village that they were okay and unharmed the two kunoichi had breakfast and left soon after eager to return home and get some rest. Once they reached Konoha they reported to the Sandaime, who thanked them for a mission well done. He gave them the rest of the day off saying that they had deserved it after this mission. Naruko and Yuugao thanked him and went home to catch up with some sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile a white-haired man with a red vest and wooden geta was making his way back to Konoha. It had been several years since he had visited mainly because he was so busy gathering information for the village. You see, this man was Konoha's best spy and had a spy network that had hundreds of informants supplying him with information that might interest Konoha and the Hokage. Of course, all of this was a lot of work and the constant traveling was a bit much but he enjoyed because it gave him inspiration for his personal works.

Normally he made a monthly report but the news he had discovered was too big and too important to send in a simply report. He was nobody's fool and he knew just how much enemies the Hokage had both inside and outside of Konoha. No, this news had to be delivered personally. He didn't really mind visiting Konoha as it would give him a chance to check up on his goddaughter. The last time he had seen her was about five years ago and he was looking forward to see how she was doing. Seeing the great wall that surrounded Konoha he doubled his pace and headed for the gate.

Once he reached the gate people started to recognize him and he felt pretty good about it. It was always nice to be treated with the respect he deserved but rarely got. After talking a bit and taking in the local beauties he quickly made his way over to the Hokage Tower where he ignored the secretary's babbling about the Hokage being busy. He just kicked open the door and went inside.

"Hey Sensei, how've you been?" The man said when the Hokage looked up.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing here?" Sandaime said surprised.

"I've got important news that needed to be brought to your attention." Jiraiya said gravely. "Can you make sure we're not disturbed?"

"Makoto, please cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day." Sandaime asked his secretary who had followed Jiraiya inside. "Thank you."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Makoto smiled and closed the door after her.

"So, what is this grave news that's got you all worked up about?" Sandaime asked interested.

"Have you ever heard of an organization called 'Akatsuki'?" Jiraiya said getting straight to the point.

"Can't say I have. Who are they?" Sandaime asked curious.

"That's the problem, I don't know." Jiraiya sighed. "What I do have is a rumor that they are interested in the Bijuu and the Jinchuuriki."

"That is bad news indeed." The Sandaime said alerted. "Is the source reliable?"

"100%, he's one of my best informants." Jiraiya nodded. "And what's even more interesting is that Orochimaru was a part of them until two years ago."

"Orochimaru? What has he been up to?" Sandaime said feeling very angry at the mention of his former pupil gone Missing-Nin.

"He's slippery as always so I don't have anything new on him." Jiraiya said disappointed. "The rest of the organization is unknown as of this moment but I think it's safe to assume that they aren't your average Missing-Nin."

"Yes, if Orochimaru was involved they would have to be at least A-rank if not all S-rank shinobi." Sandaime agreed with him.

"I'll keep an eye and ear out for any new information." Jiraiya said. "Now, my other concern. How is Naruko? I haven't seen or heard from her in a while."

"You better sit down." Sandaime sighed. "Don't worry; she's fine and she a Genin training under Uzuki Yuugao."

"The ANBU?" Jiraiya said surprised. "Kind of a big career change isn't it?"

"Yes well, Yuugao was the only one who could possible train Naruko." Sandaime said making Jiraiya frown. "Let me explain. A bit after Naruko started at the Academy just after her tenth birthday, she went out to get some groceries and got attacked by a drunken merchant. She got surprised and he knocked her out with a bottle before dragging her to a dark alley."

"WHAT? YOU MEAN HE….?" Jiraiya roared angry.

"Calm down and let me finish." Sandaime said understanding the man's anger. "Luckily, thanks to the tracking seal Yuugao placed on her she was able to intervene before he could psychically harm her. But Naruko has grown very distrusting of men and she loathes perverts. I'm the only one she trusts implicitly; she doesn't hate men but she refuses to be touched by one or let her guard down around one."

"I guess that understandable. For a ten year old girl to experience such a thing." Jiraiya nodded. "But other than that she's okay?"

"Oh yes, she's very much okay." Sandaime smiled. "She's been a Genin for half a year now and she's doing C-rank after C-rank just with Yuugao. She's very talented and she's getting stronger every day."

"That's good to hear." Jiraiya nodded happy.

"Do you want to meet her?" Sandaime asked.

"Yes, I think it's time I took a bit more interest in her training especially if this Akatsuki group is as dangerous as we think." Jiraiya said convinced.

"You do know that she won't immediately trust you and that you'll have to tone down your pervert side." Sandaime said wanting to warn the man. "Especially around Yuugao and Anko, they're very protective of Naruko and vice versa. She's also aware of the Kyuubi and her heritage. I made a promise that night that I would explain everything to her the day she became a Genin. I advise you to be honest and treat her like a grown up."

"I know." Jiraiya said. "I can handle that, sensei."

"Okay, I'll call for them." Sandaime pressed a button and two seconds later the doors opened and an ANBU entered the room. "Please get me Uzuki Yuugao and her student."

Yuugao was still resting after last night's mission when someone banged on her door. She grumbled a few insults and got out of bed to see who had the gall to wake her up. When she opened the door she saw an ANBU with a bear mask standing in front of her.

"Uzuki-sempai, the Hokage request your and your student's presence in his office." Bear said. "It's urgent and important."

"Thanks Bear, we'll be there in ten minutes." Yuugao said who was immediately awake. She closed the door and went to Naruko's room and opened the door. She smiled at Naruko's form, sleeping soundly. She almost didn't want to wake the girl up because she looked so peaceful but she didn't have a choice. When the Hokage called for you, you went without delay.

"Naruko-chan, wake up." Yuugao shook her student.

"F-five more minutes." Naruko complained.

"No can do, kiddo." Yuugao said. "We're needed at the Hokage's office. It's an emergency."

"Fine, stupid Ji-chan." Naruko said. "I'll kick his ass if this isn't worth it."

"Come on, get dressed." Yuugao said giving Naruko her clothes before storming to her room.

Nine minutes later Yuugao and Naruko knocked on the Hokage's office doors and were admitted inside. Yuugao immediately recognized Jiraiya but Naruko had never seen him before so she was on guard. The man seemed to be very familiar to the Hokage as they were sitting next to each other, Naruko noticed. Also the man seemed a bit nervous but very confident. Not to mention the man looked very strong.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama." Yuugao greeted. "You called for us?"

"Yes, Naruko I would like to introduce to you Jiraiya of the Sannin." Sandaime said and now Naruko knew who the man was. Jiraiya was one of the legendary three shinobi of Konoha and also the Jounin sensei of her father. "Jiraiya, as you know was also your father's sensei and he's your godfather."

"M-my godfather?" Naruko asked shocked. "B-but I never met him before."

"That's true but he always watched over you whenever he was in Konoha." Sandaime nodded. "I'm sure Jiraiya has some things to tell you so I'll let him. Know this Naruko, this man has my absolute trust and while he has many faults he's one of the greatest men I have had the pleasure of knowing."

"You've grown Naruko." Jiraiya said. "Last time I saw you, you were only 8 years old. I know we haven't met before and for that I'm sorry but if you're willing to listen I'll tell you why it was impossible for me to take care of you while you were little. Will you hear me out?"

"I-I guess it wouldn't hurt." Naruko said looking at Yuugao who nodded smiling. "Okay, if Ji-chan trusts you I guess I could give it a shot."

"Thank you. You see, Naruko, I'm what you call an information gatherer." Jiraiya started. "I have dozens of spies who collect information that might interest Sensei and Konoha. You no doubt understand that information is vital for a shinobi village like Konoha and that's my job. I travel from spy to spy, collect the information they have and sent it back to Konoha who then uses this information to the best of their abilities."

"So why not take me with you?" Naruko asked.

"Well, there are several reasons for that." Jiraiya said. "First of all, because I have no idea to take care of a baby. I'm a man, and men are hopeless when it comes to things like that." Here Yuugao agreed by nodding and smiling. "Secondly, you are the daughter of my student. Your father asked us not to put you at risk by giving you his name and if I, a Sannin and former sensei of the Yondaime, would take you with me, well people would find this very weird and start searching for a reason. It would only have been a matter of time before someone figured out the connection between you and your parents, putting you in even more danger than you already were."

"Because of the Kyuubi." Naruko understood.

"Exactly; I know that life here hasn't been easy for you." Jiraiya sighed. "And for that I apologize but if people knew who you were things would have been much worse. You would have been a target for so many. Iwa and Kumo wouldn't hesitate to have you killed just to have a little revenge against your father."

"I guess I can understand and forgive you." Naruko sighed. "So what happens now?"

"Nothing, I'm not here to take you away from your Sensei or anything." Jiraiya assured her. "On the contrary, I'm very happy that you have such a strong sensei because I fear you're going to need one."

"What do you mean, Jiraiya-sama?" Yuugao asked curious.

"What we're about to tell you is an S-rank secret so keep that in mind." Sandaime said. "Jiraiya here heard a rumor that an organization called 'Akatsuki' is interested in the Bijuu and the Jinchuuriki. We don't know why or what their plans are but we consider this a threat to you and Konoha."

"You're saying that there's a group out there that wants to capture me?" Naruko said a bit afraid.

"No need to panic, Naruko-chan." Sandaime said smiling. "Now that we know about it, we can prepare. We'll make sure that you're strong enough to deal with them when the time comes."

"Indeed and for the moment there's nothing to fear." Jiraiya added. "My source tells me that they are still in the early stages of their plan. They're nowhere near ready to start hunting yet. I say we still have a good four years before that."

"So we have four years to make Naru-chan strong enough to fight them." Yuugao said somewhat reassured. "Hokage-sama, I humbly request permission to inform Anko about all of this. She needs to know as well; Anko cares just as much about Naruko as we do."

"Very well, permission granted." Sandaime said after thinking a few seconds. "Naruko, you don't have to worry. We won't let them get to you and I'm sure when you're ready to face them you're going to defeat them one by one."

"Thanks, Ji-chan." Naruko smiled.

"Now then, I would like to give my goddaughter a few things." Jiraiya said and asked if they could go to a training field.

* * *

How was It? I thought to introduce Jiraiya already. He won't take her with him or train her much but he will teach her some things. Let me know your thoughts about this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Naruto.

Hi everyone and welcome to the next installment of the story. I hope everyone had a good two weeks. I had a great time, though still oh so busy but that's just the way it is right? Not much to say but enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Six: A B-rank mission!

The four of them left together and while Naruko and the Sandaime were talking Jiraiya asked Yuugao some questions about Naruko's training. Yuugao explained that she taught the ANBU Taijutsu to Naruko and that she already knew several jutsu. She also told him about Naruko's Wind and Lighting affinity when it came to Chakra. Jiraiya was very surprised about that but in the end it would make her hat much stronger.

"I must say, Jiraiya-sama, I'm impressed." Yuugao said suddenly.

"About what?" Jiraiya wondered.

"You haven't made one perverted comment or action yet." Yuugao smirked. "That's very unlikely of you."

"Yes well, sensei told me what happened to Naruko and how she's distrusting of men." Jiraiya explained. "She's my goddaughter so I want her to trust me. If being serious and non-perverted is what it takes then so be it."

"That's very considerate of you." Yuugao smiled. "Don't worry though, once you have gained Naruko's trust it's very hard to lose it. Just don't do anything perverted while she's around and you'll be fine."

"Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't." Jiraiya said thankful. "It's good to know that Naruko has found herself a family. She's grown into a beautiful young woman hasn't she?"

"Sure has and she's a great girl." Yuugao smiled. "They would be very proud of her."

"I have no doubt about that." Jiraiya said.

When they came to the training field Jiraiya walked a bit further and told Naruko to watch closely. Naruko nodded and looked on as her godfather did a few handseals and slammed his hand on the ground. A large puff of smoke appeared and when it cleared a large toad stood there. Naruko had heard about her father's summoning abilities and figured that Jiraiya was the one who taught it to him but she was still very impressed with seeing it.

"Yo, I need the scroll." Jiraiya said to the toad. Naruko watched in fascination as the toad opened his mouth and coughed up a large scroll. "This scroll is the summoning contract for the Toads. I want you to sign it."

"Jiraiya, are you serious?" Sandaime said surprised. He knew that Naruko would one day sign it but he had never expected it to be so soon.

"Absolutely." Jiraiya said beckoning Naruko to come closer. "It's her birthright." He then explained how she would have to sign in blood just next to her father's name. Naruko did as she was told and quickly wrote her name in the slot. "Good, now these are the seals; Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey and Sheep. Don't push to much chakra into it though; we don't want to alert the whole village."

"Okay." Naruko said enthusiastically. "Kuchiyose No Jutsu"

A bit of smoke appeared and the four of them got closer to see what kind of toad Naruko had summoned. When the smoke cleared a small orange toad wearing a blue coat stood there looking around wondering what the hell just happened.

"What the….?" The toad yelled. "Where the hell am I?"

"Uh hi, I'm to one who summoned you." Naruko said not wanting to scare the little guy.

"I got summoned?" the toad grinned. "Oh yeah, beat that Gamatatsu. What's your name? I'm Gamakichi, second youngest son of Gamabunta."

"Nice to meet you Gamakichi, I'm Naruko." Naruko smiled.

"Naruko eh?" Gamakichi said looking her over. "I accept you as my summoner. You're pretty and nice; you don't have any sweets on you do you?"

"Thanks and sorry no sweets." Naruko laughed.

"Gamakichi, could you tell your father Uzumaki Naruko is the new Toad Summoner." Jiraiya said to the small toad.

"Sure thing. Who are you?" Gamakichi asked Jiraiya.

"I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin. Your dad knows who I am." Jiraiya sighed.

"Okay, see you later." Gamakichi said before disappearing.

"That's so cool." Naruko laughed loudly.

"Now, the more chakra you focus into the summoning the stronger and bigger the toad will be." Jiraiya explained to Naruko. "I wanted you to know this jutsu because it might save your live some day. Promise me that you won't only use it unless absolutely necessary, when you or someone you care about is in danger."

"I promise Jiraiya-kyoufu." Naruko said nodding.

"Okay then my last present to you is this." Jiraiya once more went through some seals and his hair lengthened and became hard as diamond. "This is one of my personal techniques and would work well since you have long hair as well. It's called 'Ninpou: Hari Jizou'."

Naruko nodded after been told the seals once more and tried it out. Unfortunately she didn't manage to execute it completely and her hair, while becoming harder wasn't anything like Jiraiya's and didn't cover her entire body like his did. Jiraiya told her not to get discouraged and that she would get it soon enough. After that Jiraiya informed them that he would be leaving that very same day as he wanted to check with some other informants to find something about Akatsuki. He promised that he would be in touch with them as soon as he learned something new. He also promised Naruko that once she was strong enough he would teach her some more Jutsu.

After saying goodbye to Jiraiya, the remaining three talked for a bit before separating as well. Naruko went to practice that last jutsu some more and Yuugao was supervising her student while the Sandaime went back to his office to take care of his daily paperwork. He reminded them both that this was all an S-rank secret and that for the exception of Anko they were forbidden to tell anyone about it.

* * *

Later that night Yuugao and Naruko told Anko everything and she was understandably very concerned about the safety of her favorite blonde. The fact that her former sensei had been involved in such an organization was enough to make her cry but Naruko just gave her a hug saying that she shouldn't feel guilty about anything. After that Yuugao and Anko swore that they would push Naruko to her limits and make her strong enough to deal with these bastards. Anko would even help in her training and Naruko somehow felt a little scared of that. Yuugao had told her that Anko could get a little carried away when it came to training.

Now that they knew the threat that was Akatsuki, Yuugao pushed Naruko even further in her training. Weights were upgraded to gravity seals which put a lot of stress on her body but thanks to the healing factor of the Kyuubi, Naruko managed to gain a lot of advantages. Anko too, had joined in and helped Naruko in accuracy, dodging and stamina training when she chased her through the Forest of Death several times a week. Naruko hadn't enjoyed the first time she had been through that damn forest; Anko know that place like her back pocket and Naruko not only had to watch out for Anko but also for the wild animals that lived in the Forest. Especially those tigers the size of a house.

Yet even with all this Naruko was smiling; the fact that Yuugao and Anko were so amendment about training her only showed her how much they cared and she felt very happy about that. Even when they pushed her beyond what she was capable of, they always took care of her when she was tired and hurt at the end of training. On her more personal training things had been progressing very nicely. The Rasengan was within her reach; all she had to figure out now was how create the sphere that surrounded the whole and she was done. Of course then she still had to master it but once she had the concept down she was sure it wouldn't be long before she finished it.

* * *

Two weeks went by and Naruko was once more heading to the Hokage Tower this time with Yuugao and Anko. She wondered why Anko had been asked to join them but she couldn't come up with any reason. She and Yuugao had been doing C-rank missions by themselves for months now and they were used to it. That wasn't to say that she didn't enjoy Anko's company though. Inside the tower they quickly went to the room where the missions were handed out.

"Ah, just who I needed." Sandaime exclaimed happily. "How's training going Naruko?"

"Just fine Ji-chan." Naruko smiled. "Yuugao-sensei is putting me through the wringer but I'm getting stronger every day."

"Good, good." Sandaime said. "I called the three of you here because I have a special mission for you."

"A special mission?" Yuugao asked.

"Yes, you see a few days ago I received some very disturbing news." Sandaime nodded. "Have any of you ever heard of Gato Shipping Enterprise?"

"Sure, Gato is rumored to be one of the richest men in the world." Anko answered. "He owns the largest fleet of fishing and transport boats. They say he's ruthless towards his competition and buys them all out or rather intimidates them."

"Anko is quite correct." Sandaime nodded. "However it goes much further than that. His company is nothing but a cover for his illegal activities. Drugs, weapons, slavery, you name it and he's involved. The daimyo and I are getting concerned that the man is getting too powerful. He's starting to get dangerous to Hi no Kuni and Konoha as his drugs and weapons have already been found in all of the major cities. So far he hasn't reached Konoha but it's only a matter of time if we let him be."

"You want us to assassinate him? Anko asked.

"No, I need you three to chart his activities." Sandaime explained. "We need to know his suppliers, his storage places, his customers and distributors. If we just kill Gato, another man will rise to take his place. But if we manage to destroy his entire operation that's something different all together. Once we get enough information the Daimyo's forces and Konoha ANBU will take care of the rest. This is a B-rank mission as Gato is known to hire Missing-Nin to protect him and do his dirty work."

"I get to do a B-rank mission?" Naruko asked surprised.

"Yes, it's very rare that a Genin gets such a high mission but you're the only ones capable of the job." Sandaime nodded. "The rest of the teams just aren't ready and I can't just place an entire team of Chuunin just to observe someone. Let me say this one more time; this is strictly an observational mission and under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy except when your lives are at danger. We cannot afford to risk alerting him."

"We understand Hokage-sama." Yuugao nodded and grabbed the scrolls with information about the mission and Gato from the Hokage's desk. "We won't fail you."

"Good luck and be careful." Sandaime said.

* * *

Once outside Yuugao issued orders to both Naruko and Anko. Naruko was to go home and grab the special scrolls they had prepared for long term missions. Each scroll had several pair of clothes, a tent and basic materials sealed inside them. Anko was to get weapon supplies as an extra precaution while she herself would quickly shop for some food supplies. They were to meet in half an hour in front of the main gate. They split up and each went to do their designated task.

One hour later Konoha was already far behind them as they were headed east towards the sea where Gato's company was based. According to the scrolls Gato had his main base of operations (the legal part in each case) in a city that was only two miles away from the shore. His ships were all located in the harbor and that's where they were headed to. The scroll didn't provide much more information then that so they would have to start there and work their way to the illegal part of his business. Once they had a starting point they would follow it back to all of his activities and put them on paper. It was highly possible that this would take several weeks but they were prepared for that.

"Ne, Yuugao-sensei." Naruko said trying to get Yuugao's attention. "Where will we stay in the meanwhile? And how will we proceed?"

"Well, I thought that maybe we could build a make shift camp just outside the city, somewhere where no civilians have access to yet not too far away from our target." Yuugao said thinking. "That will be our first priority; after that we scout the city and the main building to see if we can find something."

"I doubt we'll find anything there." Anko said. "A man like Gato doesn't leave discriminating evidence where someone could find it."

"True but we'll have to start somewhere." Yuugao agreed with her lover. "Once we have a lead, we follow and try to find as much as possible."

Naruko nodded and continued running. She had to admit that this kind of mission was way more exciting than anything she had done so far. This was what she had dreamed of and she would make sure the mission was a success. Her Ji-chan had entrusted this mission to her because he knew she was capable of succeeding and she would show him that she was worth his trust and confidence. Besides with Anko and Yuugao at her side nothing could go wrong.

* * *

It had been a very long four days for the trio. The day after they left Konoha the trio had reached the city where Gato's company was located and they had found a hideout not too far from the city that was perfect. It was a cave high up a cliff that was actually big enough to house at least ten people. The three of them had immediately unpacked their stuff at the very end of the cave and placed several traps at the entrance just to be sure. Once that was finished the trio had dressed up as normal civilian girls and ventured into the city searching for Gato's building. They didn't have to look very long as it was the largest building in the entire city and his name was actually the logo as well. Anko had joked that Gato was surely compensating for something small with this building.

They didn't do much more that day as they only wanted to get a lay-out of the city and find the building besides they doubted Gato was even there in the first place. The second day however they positioned themselves on the roof of a nearby building so that they would be able to look inside. This way they had a clear view of Gato's office that had two very large windows so he could look over the city. Again Gato didn't show up but now at least they had an idea where to find him. They also took note of number of guards that were present and wrote down a description for each of them.

On the third day however they hit the jackpot as Gato arrived late that afternoon. The man looked exactly like on the picture that was provided in the scroll. He was small and walked with a cane; his hair was wild but he was showing signs of getting bald on the forehead. His suit was dark brown with a shirt of lighter brown and completing the ensemble was a pair of sunglasses. All in all the man wasn't great to look at the trio silently agreed. Surrounding Gato were four bodyguards armed to the teeth making it impossible for anyone to approach him. He went straight to his office and stayed there until late that night. When he finally exited the building Yuugao ordered the other two to head back to the hideout and she followed him home. Several hours later Yuugao had returned with a wealth of information. She had a rough sketch of his home seen from the outside and she also had the number of guards that were present at the house.

When Gato left his house on the fourth day the trio was hot on his trail and followed him for the rest of day. At first the day started out pretty ordinary; Gato inspected his ships at the harbor and did a quick inspection of his warehouse that housed his goods ready for transport. This gave the trio the location of one place where illegal goods might be distributed but they highly doubted that was the case. Nevertheless they quickly wrote everything down before following Gato to his next destination. Apparently Gato owned several small businesses in the city as well as he went from one place to another and each time the people welcomed him with a smile and respect.

It was however the last stop that had interested the trio the most. Gato travelled to just outside the city to an abandoned little building where he had met with a man. They had some kind of conversation but the trio didn't want to take a risk and held their distance. Once the meeting was over Anko followed the man while Naruko and Yuugao continued tailing Gato. When Gato just returned home the two went back to their hideout and waited for Anko who returned a few hours later.

"And what did you find?" Yuugao asked after welcoming Anko back.

"I followed that guy as he headed to another place just a few miles from where he met Gato." Anko explained. "That guy is definitely worth following some more as he's pretty high up the latter for as far as I can see. He ordered several others around and then went to a brothel where he stayed two hours."

"Okay, you follow that guy and see what you can find." Yuugao said. "Naruko and I will tail Gato tomorrow."

* * *

The next day Gato had several business meetings in his office and from their position at the rooftop Naruko and Yuugao could clearly see that Gato was handing out bribe money to officers and people in high places. Once more they wrote down the description for each one of them but unfortunately they were incapable to follow them all. Gato didn't leave his office for several more hours and nothing more happened that was of any interest to our duo.

Anko had a bit more luck with her guy. After she had arrived at the man's house she had been just in time to see him leave and keeping her distance she followed him. She used a Henge once in a while so he wouldn't notice but the man seemed not to be aware that he was being followed. She saw him enter a small shop and she walked around it not going inside. She noticed a guard on the roof of the building and she instantly knew this was no ordinary shop.

Sneaking closer she saw him talk with two other men who were loading some boxes of a cart and carried them inside. She printed the location and the description of the men into her memory and walked away not wanting to get too close. After all, this mission was just to observe not do find out what the man was dealing in. For the rest of the day the man, which she now heard was called Takamori Satoshi went from place to place either giving orders or collecting money. Each place got their location written down and what Satoshi had done there. At the end of the day Anko just knew that this man was high up the ladder of Gato's illegal business.

* * *

Gato was a happy man; he was rich beyond belief, had a booming business and was so successful that he was famous in the city. Oh, it hadn't always been like this, he remembered, as he looked out of his office windows. When he was a child, he lived in poverty as his useless parents had neither the brains nor the capabilities to become successful and rich. He hated being poor and that's why he had sworn to become the richest man in all of the elemental countries. That had been easier said than done, he soon found out. After running away from home he had started working as a low level courier for the local gangs. He was pretty good at it too. Or at least until a fellow courier that felt threatened by his presence ambushed him beating the crap out of him. Gato's right knee had been broken so badly that he needed to use a cane to get around. That also meant the end to his job as a courier as no one wanted to hire a courier who couldn't get away if he was caught by the authorities.

Forced to look for a new income Gato had managed to make a few former friends and acquaintances invest some money into a small business. That business would later grow to be Gato Shipping Enterprise. Gato used this money to buy a boat that he used to fish with while transporting illegal goods for some of his old employers. The business went so well that one boat became two boats and kept on growing. To keep the authorities away, he had to invest a bit into a decent cover operation but it had all been worth it.

Now he was the biggest supplier for the black market in all of Hi no Kuni. He controlled almost all of the shipping trade on this side of the ocean except on small country. And it was this country that kept defying him and his company. Wave, was an island a few miles away from shore and mostly lived of fishing and trading with the mainland. The fishermen of Wave were about the only fishermen out there that he didn't control and that needed to change. That and Wave proved to be a very nice retirement home in a few years. Also Wave provided a lot of goods that his ships then transported all around the world. It was an ideal way to smuggle other goods with them and delivering them to their buyers.

Today however he had heard that the people of Wave had started building a bridge that would connect them with the mainland. Now that was just unacceptable; if that bridge reached completion people wouldn't need his ships anymore and that was something he couldn't and wouldn't allow. He was a bit surprised that they still had the nerve to oppose him after those public executions he had done but people were stupid like that. A few Missing-Nins would take care of that problem he thought. It would have to wait a bit as he was currently busy trying to dispose of a rival that seemed to think he could compete with him.

* * *

For the next two weeks the trio continued to follow Gato everywhere mapping his entire operation or at least as much as they could. They had already sent several reports to the Hokage who had answered asking them to keep an eye on him a little longer. Today Yuugao was following Gato on her own as Anko and Naruko were tailing Takamori. Yuugao followed Gato as he left the city and only stopped a few miles away, in a small clearing. Something told her that it would be better to keep her distance today and she followed her instincts. From her hiding spot she noticed Gato waiting for someone and five minutes later two Missing-Nins appeared in front of Gato.

"We finished our mission." One said giving Gato a bag. Yuugao watched as he turned the bag upside down and a human head fell on the ground.

"Well done, that'll show those amateurs that they can't compete with me." Gato smiled widely.

"Our job is done; we'll take our payment now." The second Missing-Nin said.

"Ah yes your payments." Gato mused and tapped his cane on the ground. Yuugao looked as a Hunter-Nin jumped out from behind the Missing-Nin, killing one of them instantly while the second one had managed to get his bearings and block the attack just in time. It was no use however as the Hunter-Nin clearly outclassed him and he soon fell dead on the ground.

"Nice show, Hunter-Nin-san." Gato applauded. "I trust you'll forward me my share of the bounty on their head?"

"Of course Gato-san; the usual 20% will be delivered to you as soon as possible." The Hunter-Nin said before he cut off his targets' heads and burned the rest of the bodies.

'Clever. He hires Missing-Nin at low prices and once their job is done he rats them out to Hunter-Nin's and receives a part of the bounty.' Yuugao understood. 'No doubt, he's done this before.'

"I might have a job for you in the coming weeks as I'm going to Wave to deal with a few problems." Gato said to the Hunter-Nin. "I'll let you know through the usual channel."

"That would be appreciated Gato-san." The shinobi said before disappearing.

* * *

A week later an elderly man requested protection from a team so he could return home to Wave Country. The Sandaime, who had already received the report from his favorite three kunoichi, was immediately on guard when he read the specifications of the request. Unfortunately as he couldn't risk exposing Naruko and Co, he couldn't interfere with the rank assignment of the request. As it stood the man asked for protection against bandits and thugs thus was classified as a C-rank. However he wasn't about to risk losing an entire team of Genin to this mission so had insisted that the man received two teams for the price of one as most of them would be Genin. When Team 7 and Team 8 arrived and learned about the mission he called Kakashi and Kurenai to him.

"Be careful you two." He warned them. "I have conformation that someone who's involved with heavy illegal activities is currently headed to Wave."

"Do you have a name, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, Gato of Gato Shipping Enterprise." Sandaime nodded. "Another team is currently on an observational mission to map his activities. Their last report mentioned that he was headed to Wave although they don't know why exactly. They did inform me that Gato regularly uses Missing-Nin to get the dirty jobs done."

"Do you think this man is a target?" Kurenai wanted to know.

"As of this moment I have no information as I gave the order to them to follow Gato to Wave." Sandaime sighed. "It might be a hunch but stay vigilant. I told him that he would get two teams to protect him since most of them are Genin and he seemed very happy about that; happy and relieved. I didn't do this because I have no confidence in your teams but because I don't want to take any risks. The two of you will be able to deal with any circumstances."

"Thank you for the warning, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"If necessary you have permission to call for backup from the team already at Wave." Sandaime added. "The team consists out of Uzuki Yuugao, Mitarashi Anko and Uzumaki Naruko."

"Understood." Kakashi and Kurenai said before excusing themselves to get ready.

* * *

And that's that. Yes, we finally moved on to the Wave arc. I hope this was a welcome change from the usual storyline. Haku will make her appearance in the next chapter so look forward to that. I'll try and make it fun and non-cliché for all of us. See you soon.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Naruto.

Hello and welcome to the new chapter of this story. I hope everyone had a good two weeks and in good health. For me, things are still going great but very busy with work and moving. Yes, I'm moving into a new place and that means putting all my stuff into boxes and getting the place cleaned up. Still, it's a good way to get rid of all my useless junk that I've been collecting these past few years. It's amazing the kind of things a person gathers in their life.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know how you felt about it.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Of friendship and hardship

Naruko had been in Wave for almost a week now. They had received the order to follow Gato to see what his plans were in Wave as they had pretty much put his entire operation in Hi no Kuni on paper. Sure most of the minor connections he had were still out there but the more important ones had all been found. But in order to completely shut him down they needed to find out what he had planned for Wave. When they had arrived on the island it became clear that the place was a mess. In fact Wave wasn't just one island, no it was several islands that made up the country. If the rest of the islands were in the same shape as the island she was on then Naruko pitied the people.

To reach the island the trio had to get on board of a ship as the distance was too far to cross it on foot. Finding a boat hadn't been a real problem but they still were very careful not to get noticed. As soon as they arrived on the island they noticed the atmosphere. It was depressing and without hope; people were scared of their own shadow and hardly left their homes. The economy was all but non-existent as the meager amount of food and goods in the small shops showed. But what hurt Naruko's heart the most were the orphans that roamed the villages all around the island.

Whatever information they managed to get only taught them that Gato had somehow managed to get control over most fishing boats taking most of the catch for his own profit and left the remains for the fishermen. Naruko had asked Yuugao why these people didn't fight back but Yuugao explained that to these people Gato seemed invincible thanks to his fortune and the large amount of mercenaries he could hire. They were afraid that if they fought back Gato would unleash his army against them killing all of them in the process.

The three of them had made a small camp just outside the village and waited for Gato to make his move. So far he had only left his house to make some threats to the villagers to stop making the bridge that they had seen over the water. That bridge was the biggest bridge that Naruko or Yuugao and Anko for that matter had ever seen and for some reason Gato wanted it gone.

"We received a new message." Yuugao said showing Anko and Naruko the scroll.

"What does it say?" Naruko wanted to know.

"It says that Team 7 and 8 are on their way to Wave on a mission to protect a certain Tazuna-san." Yuugao said after reading the scroll. "We are to provide backup if necessary but our own mission takes priority."

"That means Kakashi and Kurenai as Jounin sensei." Anko frowned. "If they need backup than we're dealing with some very strong opponents."

"Oh no, that means Sakura will be here too." Naruko complained loudly.

"That's one of those Uchiha fangirls isn't it?" Anko asked grinning.

"Only the biggest one." Naruko sighed. "Great, I really wished I would never have to see her again."

"Come on, Naruko. It can't be that bad; who knows maybe she's changed." Yuugao smiled at her student.

"I seriously doubt it." Naruko snorted. "Unless she stopped being a fangirl all together and that's even more unlikely."

Naruko then told some stories to Anko and Yuugao about how Sakura and the fellow fangirls of her class acted around the Uchiha and how annoying the girls were. Naruko didn't need to tell very much before the two women started laughing at such ridiculous behavior. When she was done Yuugao and Anko understood why Naruko had such a fierce dislike for the girls in her class. They would have been ashamed as well if they were in that class. Girls like that just gave kunoichi a bad name.

* * *

Said pink haired girl was sitting in a cozy little home just a few miles away. They had just arrived in the village and Tazuna had leaded them to his home so Kakashi-sensei could recover from his fight with Zabuza of the Hidden Mist. She had never been so afraid in her entire life as when the Missing-Nin had attacked them earlier that day. Things had started out great; they received a C-rank mission that would take about two weeks outside Konoha. Sakura was very happy about that as that meant that she had Sasuke all to herself for two whole weeks. No Ino or other rivals she had to look out for; just her and Sasuke. That Hinata was with her as well didn't bother her at all since the shy Hyuuga had never been interested in Sasuke before so she doubted Hinata was a rival.

Alas, things had quickly gone south. The second day of the trip they were attacked by two shinobi called the Oni-Kyoudai and if it wasn't for Kakashi –sensei's quick reaction she would have been killed when one of them aimed for Tazuna. Luckily Kakashi had seen the attack and interfered before any harm could be done. Of course this showed the Jounin sensei that this mission was not what they thought it would be and from that moment they had to be on guard for anything. That had meant three more days of nonstop stress and worries for her.

The real reason why she was so afraid came when they had just set foot on land and Zabuza of the Hidden Mist had attacked them. Sakura just knew that she would have nightmares for the next few days. The fight had been terrifying and while the Genin hadn't had to fight, seeing Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei fight for their lives had been enough to scare her. The amount of Killing Intent the man released upon them was enormous and she wasn't the only one who almost fainted. The other Genin too had been so scared that they were shaking and trembling. She had never been more relieved when that Hunter-Nin killed Zabuza and took him away.

Upstairs Kakashi was resting after using his Sharingan so much during the fight. While he hadn't fainted thanks to Kurenai's help in battle he still used most of his chakra to fight the man. Zabuza truly was a worthy opponent he thought. Still something was bothering him and he couldn't put his finger on it. He recalled the battle in his mind when suddenly he understood what happened.

"Kurenai, we're in trouble." Kakashi said urgently.

"Zabuza is still alive isn't he?" Kurenai said thinking the same thing. "That Hunter-Nin was his accomplice."

"Yes, I believe so." Kakashi agreed. "That means he'll be back after he gets healed."

"That should give us about two weeks." Kurenai said judging by the number of injuries they had managed to inflict. "What's the plan?"

"I think it would be wise to train our students during those two weeks." Kakashi said thinking. "And maybe call Yuugao and her team just in case."

"How will we contact her?" Kurenai asked. They had no idea where she was and they didn't want to compromise her mission by being too obvious about it.

"I'll take care of that." Kakashi said tiredly. "This will probably cost me my remaining chakra so you'll have to explain it to her in detail." Kakashi then used the 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu' to summon a small dog and gave it the order to find Yuugao and guide her here unknown to the Genin and everyone else. The small pug named Pakkun nodded and sped away looking for Yuugao.

* * *

In their camp the trio was discussing training and how to proceed if Team 7 and 8 requested backup. Naruko didn't like it but there was no way she was going to abandon two fellow teams even if Sakura was part of one. The others she didn't really have any problems with so she didn't mind them. The three had worked out a schedule that would put Yuugao and Anko on following duty while Naruko focused on training and scouting the village. Naruko protested saying that she too wanted to help in the mission but Yuugao put her foot down saying that Gato most likely had Missing-Nin with him since he seemed to have some plans for Wave. They couldn't risk Naruko getting detected by them and blowing their cover.

"Someone's coming." Anko suddenly said as she heard rustling in the bushes. They got ready to fight but only a small dog emerged from the bushes.

"Pakkun?" Yuugao asked as she recognized the small summon.

"Yo, Kakashi and Kurenai need you." Pakkun said making Naruko groan loudly muttering about incompetent fangirls. "They fought a Missing-Nin called Zabuza of the Hidden Mist."

"Ouch, that's a tough one." Anko whistled. "I'll tell you later." She said to Naruko who wanted to know who this Zabuza guy was.

"Alright, I guess you want me to come with you?" Yuugao said and Pakkun simply nodded. "Alright, lead the way."

When Yuugao returned an hour later she explained that they would continue observing Gato and his men but wouldn't interfere with the battle unless it was absolutely necessary. She told them the same thing Kurenai told her about how they faced Zabuza and how a fake Hunter-Nin had taken him away. She also explained that according to Kurenai's estimations it would take about two weeks before Zabuza would be able to fight again. Until Kakashi had recovered either Yuugao or Anko would watch over the Genin of Team 7 and 8 for afar. So in case they got attacked Kurenai wasn't alone to fight of Missing-Nin.

"So other than that we continue just as planned?" Naruko asked.

"Yes, Team 7 and 8 doesn't know we're here." Yuugao said. "Kakashi and Kurenai would like to use this situation as a training opportunity. Since we'll follow the battle closely they're pretty assured that their students are save."

"That's so Kakashi." Anko snorted. "Use a life-threatening situation to teach your students something."

"They'll be training in the forest north from here so avoid that part." Yuugao said to them. "Also be careful when you're in the village not to get noticed."

* * *

The next morning Naruko was wandering through the forest to find a suitable training place where she could practice. After walking a bit she came out on a beautiful clearing filled with flowers and herbs and she decided that this would be the place. She entered the clearing only to see a person sitting there pulling out herbs. Naruko was a bit disappointed that someone had already claimed this place but guessed that once the girl was done she would have the place all to herself. She made up her mind and entered the clearing approaching the girl.

"Hi, what are you doing?" Naruko asked softly not to startle the girl.

"Oh hello, I'm just collecting some herbs to make some medicine." The girl smiled.

"Do you need help?" Naruko said sitting down.

"Eh sure." The girl said not wanting to be rude. "I'm Haku."

"Naruko, nice to meet you." Naruko said to Haku and took in her appearance. The girl had long shiny black hair and beautiful kind eyes. She wore something around her neck and a pink kimono which showed just how delicate she was. Naruko was mesmerized by this girl and she thought that this was without a doubt the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

"Nice to meet you too." Haku smiled back and showed her what herbs she was looking for.

"This place is so peaceful." Naruko sighed softly. It was something that Konoha didn't have as it always had people on the move and she thought it was a pity.

"I only found it yesterday but I like it here." Haku agreed. "It's nice and it relaxes me." Haku took a moment to close her eyes and just enjoy the scents and the feeling of the grass. She then looked at Naruko who was trying to find the correct herb with a frown of concentration on her face. It surprised Haku that this girl was willing to talk to her and help her; she had never had any friends before in her village and when she joined up Zabuza she didn't have any time to make some friends. Maybe she could become friends with this girl even if it only was for a few days.

The two of them talked a bit longer and greatly enjoyed talking to a girl of somewhat the same age. Neither of them gave out information that could inform the other of their true identity but that didn't stop them for becoming friends very fast. Sadly after an hour Haku excused herself saying that she still had work to do at home.

"Will I see you again?" Naruko asked a bit sad.

"I'll need new herbs tomorrow so maybe we'll see each other again tomorrow morning?" Haku smiled at her new friend.

"Sure thing, I'll be here." Naruko nodded. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Haku waved and vanished into the forest.

Once Naruko was sure she was alone she quickly changed into more durable clothes and started her training. She had been practicing very hard to master the technique her godfather had showed her and so far she was doing great. When she used the Jutsu her hair became hard as diamond and wrapped around her protecting her from any harm. Also the fact that her hair formed spikes capable of hurting the opponent's limbs was amazing. After finishing that part she moved over to her Taijutsu and the kata's she still had to master. It was a bit weird to practice without Yuugao at her side but she knew it was necessary to practice. The last portion of her training was the Rasengan. She had already been able to make a perfectly shaped one but it took her way too much time and concentration. It just wasn't usable in a fight this way and thus she needed to improve. Her goal was to be able to do it in less than three seconds. Then and only then would she show Yuugao-sensei that she was capable of performing the Rasengan.

* * *

When she returned to the camp she saw Anko and Yuugao sitting there talking and laughing while preparing dinner. Naruko greeted them with a smile and asked what they were talking about. Anko told her how she had watched the training that Team 7 and 8 had done during the day.

"I swear, just a few minutes of sparring and the girl was breathing like crazy." Anko said shaking her head. "And don't get me started on the Uchiha."

"What? What's wrong with him?" Yuugao asked interested.

"You mean, what isn't wrong with him." Anko snorted. "The guy is a ticking time bomb. He's arrogant, has an ego unlike anything I've ever seen before and while talented he's a real jerk towards his teammates. He insults them and ridicules them more often than not and ignored most of the advice Kurenai gave him."

"Yep that's Sasuke alright." Naruko nodded. "He was like that in the academy as well. Always looking down at others, believing they weren't worth his time."

"Team 8 on the other hand is a well-oiled machine." Anko continued. "They work well together and seem very supportive of each other. Kurenai's lucky to have such a team. Though I'm a bit disappointed at their progress but I guess they held back a bit."

"So did anything happen with Gato?" Naruko asked her sensei.

"Nothing. I don't get it; we know he has something big planned for this place but all he does is stay inside and does nothing." Yuugao said frustrated.

"Well, we already know that Zabuza and his accomplice were the Missing-Nin he hired." Anko said shrugging. "All we have to do is wait until he betrays them. This is bound to happen, either before or after they fight Kakashi and Kurenai again."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Naruko said before taking three plates and filled them with dinner.

* * *

For the next week and a half Naruko met up with Haku in the morning to help her collect herbs in the forest. Over those days they had really started to know each other even though neither of them knew that they were both kunoichi. They were very fast starting to consider each other as first and best friends. When they wandered around the forest they laughed and joked around, talking just about everything. Naruko told her that she was here with her Nee-chans traveling for a few weeks while Haku pretended to be from a local village not too far from the forest. Each day made it harder and harder for both as they realized that they would have to say goodbye eventually and neither really wanted that.

"Well, I need to go." Haku said as she needed to get back.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow right?" Naruko nodded.

"Sure thing Naruko-chan." Haku smiled at her friend.

"Bye Haku-chan." Naruko waved before she started her training for the day.

Haku jumped though the trees and headed to the tree house where she and Zabuza lived. The place wasn't much but it offered them the chance to sleep in a decent bed and at least they were covered from nature. It was also a very good hiding place as not many people ventured this far into the dark forest. While she was running and hopping through the trees she began thinking about her new friend and how fast she had become attached to the girl. For the first time in her life she felt truly accepted. Sure, Zabuza took care of her but she was only a tool to him as he had told her so many times. She was useful to him thanks to her Kekkei Genkai and her devotion to him.

Now however she started to wish that she could be like Naruko. To be free and not having to worry about Hunter-Nin appearing all of the sudden aiming to end your life. No, if it wasn't for Zabuza-sama she would have long left by now. Yet, she couldn't do this to her savior. If Zabuza-sama hadn't saved her all those years ago she would have long died or ended up as a slave. She definitely owed Zabuza-sama her life and she wasn't about to ignore that no matter how much she wanted.

When she arrived she quickly changed in her usual clothes except the mask and prepared the medicine for her master and headed to his room where he was resting. The Konoha shinobi had done a number on him but he was healing nicely. If she was to guess a few more days and he would back to his top game. She entered his room and noticed that he was awake and looking at the ceiling. She went over and handed him the cup with the medicine helping him sit up and drink it.

"How are you feeling Zabuza-sama?" she inquired.

"Pretty good; a few more days and I'll be healed completely." Zabuza grunted at her.

"Well, be sure to rest until then." Haku smiled.

"What's the matter with you?" Zabuza asked suddenly. "You seem very happy for some reason."

"Me? Oh, nothing happened." Haku said quickly. "I'm just happy that you're getting better."

"Hmm." Zabuza said narrowing his eyes at her before he let it go and closed his eyes.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty fast for Haku as she cleaned up a bit, prepared food and kept guard. Ever since Gato and his two samurai had paid them a visit two days after Zabuza's defeat she had been on alert. Of course those two samurai had been nothing compared to her but it was the fact that he would attack them in the first place. She had no doubt that Gato would betray them if they lost the next fight as well.

As evening approached Haku felt more and more nervous and she just had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. She alerted Zabuza of this and he told her to be ready to fight if something happened. Her feeling of dread came true when she saw Gato and his two men approaching the tree house. Luckily she didn't feel any other presences than those three but she still didn't feel completely reassured.

"Gato, what do you want?" Zabuza growled at the small man.

"I'm just here to check up on you." Gato said with a nasty smile on his face. "I've decided that we need to attack the bridge at the end of next week. By then it will be almost finished; it will give them a feel of success and hope. When we destroy that bridge we'll crush the spirit of each and every one of those damn villagers."

"Fine, I'm almost recovered so we can do it anytime you want." Zabuza nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think you were going to be there?" Gato laughed loudly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zabuza said getting up and motioning to Haku to be on guard.

"It means that I'm terminating our contract." Gato said sneering at him. "I can't afford another screw-up so I decided to call in a few friends." He tapped his cane and suddenly Haku and Zabuza were surrounded by three Hunter-Nin of the Hidden Mist.

"You bastard." Zabuza shouted.

The fight was over before it really started. While Zabuza had recovered greatly he still wasn't healed and the Hunter-Nin used this to their advantage. Two of them joined up together to fight him while the last one fought with Haku. Zabuza wasn't about to let some punk betray him without a least trying to get even. He fought like a man possessed and had managed to get a hold of his sword which evened the odd a bit. With fierce determination he engaged the two Hunter-Nins in combat.

Haku was also having trouble; the man she was facing was obviously stronger than her and she had to do her best not to get killed in the first few minutes of the battle. She couldn't use her Kekkei Genkai due to the lack of space inside the room. While she had several techniques that she could use all of them needed space and so she was facing the man with only a few senbon needles. On top of that the man used a ninjato which he used to perfection. She had already been cut on the arm but luckily it was only a superficial wound.

Zabuza was having a hard time fighting two Hunter-Nins at the same time. Just like Haku he lacked the necessary room to use much of his Kenjutsu as he couldn't swing his sword that well. The Hunter-Nin on the other hand had no such restriction. When one attacked the other blocked his attack leaving him open for the other. He bit a cry of pain as he got stabbed in the arm by one of them forcing him to jump back. He heard Haku hit the wall as the Hunter-Nin kicked her in the ribs hard enough to make her cough up blood.

It was there and then Zabuza made the decision. He knew he wouldn't leave this place alive but he wasn't about to let Haku pay for his mistakes. For years she had followed him, obeyed him and sacrificed everything for him just because he had taken her with him when he fled Kiri. He always told her she was his tool, a weapon to reach his goals but now all he wanted was for her to live and be happy. The last few days he had noticed a change in Haku. She smiled a lot more and she seemed very happy for some reason she didn't want to tell. He threw his sword at his opponents and dashed over to Haku successfully kicking the Hunter-Nin that was approaching her in the face.

"Haku, this is the end for me." Zabuza said to her. "Get out of here; I'll deal with these guys."

"Z-Z-Zabuza-sama." Haku said shocked. "I-I won't abandon you."

"This is an order." Zabuza yelled. "Leave now and be happy." He then grabbed her by her clothes and threw her out the window knowing that she would survive the fall. Haku was falling while crying loudly until she hit the ground. She felt her leg break from the impact and she screamed out in pain and misery. She had failed her master and now she was alone. She still heard the sounds of the battle and knew she had to get away. She dragged herself into the forest and hoped that the Hunter-Nin wouldn't chase after her. She headed for the only place she could think of.

* * *

Naruko woke up that morning and she started making breakfast for her Nee-chans. Yuugao and Anko had gotten very irritated at the way things were going. Yuugao was frustrated that Gato just stayed in his home doing nothing all day long and Anko was getting bored of watching over Team 7 and 8 all the time. Naruko figured that she could do something nice and prepare breakfast for them. Since it was very early in the morning they were still sleeping but she left to meet up with Haku. She walked to their meeting grounds hoping that Haku would be there so that they could spend a bit more time together. When she reached the clearing she noticed something lying in the grass. She approached it and suddenly she had a very bad feeling about this. She hurried over and recognized the silky black hair of her best friend. She turned the body over and saw the bloodied face of Haku.

"HAKU-CHAN!"

* * *

Oho, a cliffy. Not very nice, I know. But hey, I've got to keep the suspense for a bit. I hope the meeting between Haku and Naruko was somewhat believable and realistic. I also didn't want to drag it out for too long. Zabuza's actions might seem a bit out of character but I like to believe that he would have done the same thing even without Naruto helping him realize how important Haku was to him. Sorry to the people who wanted Zabuza to join Konoha as well but I felt like it had been done so much before. Anyway, see you in two weeks for the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to the next chapter of this story. Two weeks go by so fast yet so slow if you have to wait for something you want doesn't it? I've been writing like mad for this story and I think I have finally mapped out where I want to go with this story. Instead of following canon like with my other Naruto story, I'm going to start something more original after the Chuunin exams. If I can manage to work it out Akatsuki will be on the background for a while and there will be no timeskip in this story. I'm still working out the details but for now enjoy the chapter.

Let me know how it was, okay?

* * *

Chapter Eight: First friend

Yuugao and Anko were eating the breakfast Naruko had prepared for them earlier. It was still early and they had a bit of time before they would have to leave to watch over their targets. They were sick and tired to do so but they didn't have a choice. Gato needed to be watched so that they would know what he was planning and Team 7 and 8 needed to be protected until Kakashi had recovered. Fortunately he was already moving around on crutches so hopefully that part would soon be over. They were about to get ready to leave when Naruko busted out of the bushes carrying someone on her back.

"Nee-chan, help me." Naruko yelled.

"Naruko, what's going on? Who's that?" Yuugao asked shocked.

"She's my friend. Please help me, she's hurt badly." Naruko pleaded. Anko sprung into action telling Naruko to bring the girl over. Naruko nodded and carried her friend to Anko who immediately started to remove the bloodied clothes so she could take a look at the girl's injuries.

"Broken leg, wound on the left forearm, probably concussion as well." Anko said quickly. "A broken rib as well."

"Is she going to be okay?" Naruko asked panicked.

"Naruko, she's going to be fine; we'll take care of her." Yuugao reassured her thought she was very weary of this Haku person. "You need to tell us how you know this girl. Why didn't we hear about this until now?"

"I'm sorry, don't be mad please." Naruko cried.

"We're not mad, Naruko-chan." Anko hugged her. "We just want to know what's going on."

"I-I met her almost two weeks ago." Naruko explained. "She was plucking herbs in the clearing where I trained and we started talking and she was really nice. I helped her a bit and when she left I started training. The next day she was back and each day after that as well. We became friends but I never told her that I was from Konoha or anything, I swear." Naruko said while looking at Haku worriedly.

"From what Kakashi told me she fits the description of that fake Hunter-Nin that saved Zabuza." Yuugao said to Naruko. "Did you know she was a kunoichi?"

"No, I swear." Naruko said. "She never did anything to make me think she's a kunoichi. I believed she was just a girl from a nearby village."

"Well, she's going to be fine." Anko said when she finished tending to Haku. "The worst injury is her leg but it should heal nicely. We'll have to use medical jutsu several times over the next few days to help it heal but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Thanks Anko-Neechan." Naruko hugged her and went to sit next to her friend.

"She obviously a kunoichi." Anko said to her lover. "She has several scars on her body that civilians just don't have. What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know but we can't leave her like this." Yuugao said.

"That's not what I meant." Anko said pointing to Naruko. "Look at her, you can tell how attached she's become to this girl. If we do something to hurt her Naruko will never forgive us."

"We'll have to wait until we can ask Haku what happened." Yuugao sighed. She really didn't want to hurt Naruko but chances were that they might not have a choice. If Haku was the Hunter-Nin Kakashi talked about it would only get worse.

"It's pretty clear what happened." Anko snorted. "Gato betrayed them just like he did so many times before."

* * *

The rest of the day Naruko didn't move from beside Haku. Training had been cancelled as someone needed to be there when Haku woke up. Yuugao left to watch over Gato and promised that everything would be okay and that she wasn't mad at Naruko. Anko went to watch over the Genin of Team 7 and 8 but returned soon after when she had seen Kakashi helping the kids with their training showing he had recovered.

Anko watched at her little adoptive sister and smiled. It was cute to see Naruko this worried about someone and she was happy that she had finally made a real friend. While they didn't discuss this with Naruko they had been a bit worried about her not having any friends of her own age back in Konoha. Seeing Naruko talk about 'her friend' like that had reassured them both that Naruko wasn't completely shutting others out of her life.

Haku woke up feeling sore and very thirsty. She tried to recognize where she was but couldn't find anything. She did find however that her wounds were bandaged and her leg was splinted. Suddenly someone bowed over her and raised her head so she could drink some water. Haku didn't know this person so she struggled against it.

"Shh, it's okay. We're Naruko's friends." Anko whispered. "You have nothing to fear from us."

"N-Naruko-c-chan?" Haku managed to say after she took a sip of water.

"Yes, she found you this morning." Yuugao said after Anko had called her over. "What happened?"

"…..Gato….betrayed….Zabuza-sama…….ordered…..run…." Haku said before she burst into tears.

"Gato betrayed you and Zabuza and Zabuza ordered you to run?" Anko asked softly and Haku nodded with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"So you are a kunoichi?" Yuugao said to Haku who nodded. "Did you tell Naruko about this?"

"No…did not tell her…" Haku said softly.

"Did you know Naruko is a kunoichi?" Yuugao further asked. Haku's eye widened and she immediately shook her head.

"Didn't…..know." she said.

"Okay, rest now." Anko told Haku. "We'll talk later okay?" Haku didn't need to be told twice and she drifted off.

"Just like we thought." Yuugao said to her lover. "What are we going to do?"

"Like I said Naruko will never forgive us if we hurt her friend." Anko answered. "We'll need to be careful about this. I doubt the girl is a threat or anything; she doesn't seem the type."

"When did this stupid mission get so complicated?" Yuugao complained. "I swear; I never had these kinds of problems in ANBU."

"Oh come on, you love every second of being Naruko's Jounin sensei." Anko said laughing.

"True." Yuugao said before moving over to Naruko and tucked her in. "She's the second best thing that happened to me."

"And what's the first best thing that happened to you?" Anko said grabbing Yuugao in a hug.

"I thought that was pretty obvious." Yuugao smiled before kissing Anko who happily responded.

* * *

The next morning Naruko woke up early mad at herself for falling asleep when Haku needed her. She looked over at the girl and saw that she was sleeping peacefully. She couldn't help but stare at Haku's face and she was worried sick even though Anko had told her that she would be fine. She looked at the bandages on Haku's forearm and noticed that they needed to be changed. Grabbing the scroll where they sealed medical supplies and unsealed a roll of bandages and started working.

"Good morning Naru-chan." Yuugao said from behind her.

"Ah, good morning Yuugao-neechan." Naruko smiled softly. "I'm sorry for falling asleep last night."

"Don't worry about it Naru-chan." Yuugao said sitting next to her. "Haku woke up a bit last night and managed to tell us about what happened."

"Gato betrayed them, didn't he?" Naruko said with venom in her voice.

"Yes, apparently he called in Hunter-Nin and Zabuza ordered her to run." Yuugao explained. "She honestly didn't know you were a kunoichi. We could tell from the look on her face."

"What's going to happen to her?" Naruko asked afraid of the answer.

"I don't know Naru-chan." Yuugao sighed. "I know she's your friend but she's a Missing-Nin from Kiri. We can't just take her with us."

"I'm not leaving her here." Naruko said strongly. "Haku-chan is my first and best friend and I'll be damned if I abandon her like this."

"Naru-chan…." A weak voice suddenly said.

"Haku-chan, how are you feeling?" Naruko said softly.

"Okay….bit sore….I'm sorry…."Haku managed to say.

"It's okay, rest now. We'll have plenty of time to talk later." Naruko smiled at Haku who nodded and closed her eyes again.

Late in the afternoon Haku woke up once more feeling a lot better. She was able to sit up for a bit though she need help to get up. She told Naruko and Yuugao (who had asked Anko to watch over Gato today) what had happened after she had left Naruko in the clearing. She explained how she got home and took care of Zabuza and how Gato arrived and betrayed them. With tears running down her cheeks she told them how Zabuza ordered her to run and how he threw her out the window to the forest below.

"…I abandoned Zabuza-sama." Haku cried softly. "What am I going to do now? I'm all alone again."

"No, you're not." Naruko said smiling. "You've got me; we're friends and I'm not going to leave you."

"But…" Haku tried to say but Naruko interrupted her.

"No, you're coming with me and that's final." Naruko said nodding her head.

"Naruko, you can't promise that." Yuugao said angry. "We can't just bring in Missing-Nin from other villages. That's very much frowned upon and could start some serious trouble."

"I'm not a Missing-Nin." Haku said surprising both Konoha kunoichi.

"You're not?" they both said simultaneously.

"I was never a shinobi. Zabuza-sama found me when I was six years old and took me away from Kiri." Haku nodded. "He taught me everything I know but I was never an official kunoichi of Kiri. The Hunter-Nin came after Zabuza-sama but not me."

"See? Haku-chan can come with us." Naruko said glaring at Yuugao. She wasn't really mad at her sister, she too knew the rules, but she desperately wanted to keep her friendship with Haku.

"That doesn't mean Hokage-sama will allow her to become a kunoichi for Konoha." Yuugao sighed. "Things don't work like that Naru-chan."

"Don't worry about Ji-chan." Naruko smiled. "I'll use my 'secret' jutsu. He can't refuse anything when I use it."

"Secret Jutsu?" Yuugao blinked. "And what jutsu might that be?"

"Ah ah, if I told you it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?" Naruko said smiling.

"Argh, you can be so stubborn when you want." Yuugao groaned. Naruko winked at Haku who managed a small smile back at the blonde. "Naruko, I'll need to go tell Kakashi what happened. Haku, you're sure that Gato said he would attack at the end of next week?" Haku nodded. "Good, I'll be back shortly. Stay here and be good."

Naruko huffed at the last comment and turned to Haku who was laying down resting some more. Naruko hated seeing her friend this hurt and vulnerable so she went to sit next to her showing her friend that she was there for her. Haku didn't speak but Naruko could she how thankful she was when she looked at her. For a long time they just sat there thinking and resting, neither one speaking waiting for the other to speak first.

"Thank you Naruko-chan." Haku said suddenly.

"What for?" Naruko asked softly.

"For taking care of me and for wanting me to come with you." Haku answered.

"Are you kidding? You're my best friend so there's no way I could do otherwise." Naruko said. "Besides, you would do the same for me."

"How do you know that?" Haku cried. "I abandoned Zabuza-sama. I don't deserve your friendship."

"Don't you ever say that, Haku." Naruko said angry. "You didn't abandon Zabuza; he ordered you to run and live. He loved you so much that he wanted you to live and be happy; he knew he was going to die there and he didn't want you to suffer because of him."

"But…" Haku tried to say.

"I know it hurts Haku-chan and it will for a long time." Naruko softly said. "But you should honor his last order and request. Live and be happy; that way his death was not in vain. You didn't abandon him; you made sure his death had a meaning."

"……Thank you, Naru-chan." Haku said after thinking a bit.

"You're very welcome." Naruko smiled. "Oh, and you definitely deserve my friendship."

Haku nodded and they fell into silence once more. Not soon after Yuugao returned from informing Kakashi and Kurenai, who were very glad to have a heads up about the attack. Yuugao also asked a few questions about the fight they had with Zabuza and had found out that Haku hadn't fought them, only took Zabuza away under her guise as a Hunter-Nin. Yuugao relaxed a bit at that as things would have been worse if Haku had fought or injured someone from Konoha. Now that she knew that wasn't the case she understood that Haku did have a good chance of being accepted into Konoha but it would probably take a lot of begging and arguing with the Sandaime. When she arrived back at the camp the noticed that Haku was sleeping and Naruko was practicing her Kata but still checking Haku once in a while. Yuugao called her over and Naruko quickly joined her.

"Yuugao-neechan?" Naruko said looking at the ground.

"Yes?" Yuugao said surprised. She had never seen Naruko like this before.

"I'm sorry." Naruko said with a sniffle before hugging her big sister. "I don't want you to be mad at me but Haku is my friend."

"Oh Naru-chan, I'm not mad at you." Yuugao smiled hugging the girl. "I just don't want to see you hurt if Sandaime-sama doesn't allow Haku to stay in Konoha."

"Will you help me try to convince him?" Naruko asked.

"Of course I will." Yuugao sighed. She really wanted to get to know Haku a bit more before she answered but Naruko needed to know that she still supported her and cared for her. "I'll do my very best, okay?"

Naruko nodded wiping a tear from her eye and smiled at Yuugao who told her that she was going to teach her a new jutsu. She had thought it over and while she was normally forbidden to teach this jutsu she figured that with the current mission she would be forgiven. Kurenai, Kakashi and she had discussed the attack and Yuugao was sure that the bastard would attack with overwhelming numbers. Kakashi agreed and asked Yuugao to help them in the final fight in case the two Jounin and six Genin wouldn't be able to defeat a whole army of thugs and mercenaries on their own without taking any loses. Yuugao had told him that she would report to the Hokage and ask for orders but that they would be there in any case to help if necessary.

"Okay Naru-chan, the jutsu that I'm going to teach you is a Forbidden Jutsu." Yuugao said seriously. "Normally, it's not allowed to teach this jutsu to anyone but I fear that we might need it next week. Let me show you." Yuugao did a few handseals and called out 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' and a perfect replica of Yuugao appeared next to her. "This jutsu, unlike any other Bunshin jutsu makes a real copy of you made out of chakra. Unlike the normal Bunshin no Jutsu its corporal and can do anything the original can." To show what she meant the clone went over to Naruko and touched her shoulder showing it had a real body.

"Wow, that's amazing?" Naruko said surprised. "But why is it forbidden?"

"It's forbidden because the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu has a very large Chakra demand to perform." Yuugao said dispelling the clone. "If I make one clone then it cuts my chakra in half; if I make two clones then they receive one third of my chakra each and so on. This is very dangerous because if you make too many you won't have any chakra left."

"Oh, that sucks." Naruko nodded in understanding.

"So be careful when you use that jutsu." Yuugao warned her. "Also the Kage Bunshin isn't a very durable Bunshin; it only need to get one hit and it dispels."

"But you use it in battle right?" Naruko said thinking about Yuugao's fighting style.

"Yes, that's right. I use it to deceive my opponent and also because the clone can do damage." Yuugao nodded. "Okay here are the seals."

Naruko quickly learned the seal sequence and started practicing her new jutsu. She didn't have much success on the first tries and the clones either popped as soon as they were formed or didn't form at all. Finally after about an hour she started making progress and things went very fast from there. Taking a deep breath Naruko ran through the handseals and focused her chakra into creating clones. The area around Naruko was soon covered in smoke and Yuugao panicked immediately. That much smoke meant that Naruko had made a larger number of clones. When the smoke cleared she gasped at the amount of Naruko's that stood in the clearing. There had to be at least a few dozen clones.

"Naruko, dispel them quickly." Yuugao yelled out in panic. Naruko, surprised at the number of clones did as she was told. Yuugao hurried over checking if her student was okay. "Naruko, how do you feel? Do you need to sit down? Are you okay?"

"I feel fine, Yuugao-sensei." Naruko assured her.

"You don't feel anything after making so many clones?" Yuugao asked in shock. "Not even a bit tired or drained?"

"Nope, I'm okay." Naruko admitted. "Not tired at all."

"T-That's impossible." Yuugao stammered. "So many clones and you don't feel it at all? If I were to make that many I wouldn't last 3 seconds before falling unconscious."

"Want to me try again?" Naruko asked and Yuugao nodded but told her not to make that many clones just to be sure.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Naruko did the jutsu once more and once again about twenty clones popped into existence. "This better? I tried to make less of them."

"How do you feel now?" Yuugao checked once more.

"Perfect; not tired or strained at all." Naruko said smiling. "I could probably make more without a problem."

"Unbelievable." Yuugao said amazed. "I've never heard of anyone making that many clones and not be tired or pass out. Okay dispel them and try to make only one or two."

Naruko nodded dispelling the clones and concentrated on making only a few clones instead of making a whole army. It took her a few tries but in the end she managed to tweak her chakra enough to make just one clone. Yuugao nodded and asked Naruko how long she thought she could let it 'live'. Naruko shrugged not really knowing and ordered the clone to sit and wait until it runs out of chakra or until she became too tired to maintain the jutsu.

* * *

When Anko returned a few hours later and saw two Naruko's sitting there and she almost thought she was the victim of a prank but when Yuugao explained that she had taught the Kage Bunshin to Naruko and that this clone had been there for the past three hours Anko's jaw dropped. Like Yuugao she had never heard of such a thing and she was visibly impressed with her little sister. Yuugao informed Anko that she had talked to Kakashi and Kurenai that afternoon about Gato's attack. Anko nodded when Yuugao explained that they would most likely help them out against Gato's army.

"Anything happened at Gato's?" Yuugao asked.

"No sign of any army of mercenaries or the Hunter-Nin that attacked Haku last night." Anko told them.

"Yeah, Haku told us that she was never an official kunoichi to begin with so they wouldn't be interested in her anyway." Yuugao nodded feeling relieved that they wouldn't have to deal with the Hunter-Nin.

"I take it Naruko convinced you to take her with us?" Anko smiled at Yuugao while Naruko was checking on Haku.

"How could I refuse? Haku is the first friend that she's made." Yuugao sighed softly. "She would be devastated if she had to leave Haku here."

The two women looked over at Naruko who was sitting next to Haku with concern still showing on her face even though she now knew that Haku would be fine. The two of them could clearly see that Naruko already considered Haku as a member of their group. They realized that if Haku got accepted into Konoha's shinobi force that Naruko would want her to join under Yuugao's tutelage as well. While the two women were thinking about the consequences Naruko had fallen asleep next to her friend. Yuugao and Anko giggled at the two girls lying next to each other and they moved over to put a blanket over them.

Several hours later Haku woke up and saw Naruko sleeping peacefully next to her and she smiled at the blonde. She was truly grateful to have made such a loyal and kind friend in the girl. When they had first met Haku knew that this girl was special and over the days she had come to realize that Naruko was everything she wanted in a friend. They could talk very well with each other, they had the same kind of dreams and now she knew that they were both kunoichi. Haku smiled as Naruko shifted closer and snuggled into her blanket.

"She's been watching over you ever since she found you." A voice came from Haku's other side. She turned around and saw Anko sitting there smiling at her.

"Really?" Haku said shyly.

"Of course, you're her first friend and it's obvious she cares very much for you." Anko said nodding. "Poor girl doesn't really have any friends at home. She's an orphan and life didn't always treat her right but she's one of the strongest girls I know."

"How come someone as great as Naruko doesn't have any friends?" Haku wanted to know.

"Well, it's not really my story to tell so if you really want to know you should ask her but one reason is that the girls in her class were more interested in a boy than becoming friends with her." Anko said to Haku.

"All of them were interested in one boy?" Haku asked wondering what kind of boy would be able to attract that many girls.

"Doesn't help that said boy is the last member of a famous clan and called a genius." Anko shrugged. "And when Naruko showed no interest what so ever in him the other girls saw her as a weirdo and never bothered to get to know her. You saw him though; he was with the team Zabuza fought. The one with the blue shirt and white pants."

"I see." Haku said understanding remembering seeing the boy. She knew that children could be very cruel without even knowing that they were doing it.

"How's the leg?" Anko said changing the subject.

"It still hurts when I move it but I think I'll be able to move around by the end of next week." Haku answered.

"Good, Medical Jutsu help improve the healing rate but it was still a nasty fracture." Anko said before she used the jutsu on Haku's leg once more. They had been doing that every few hours to help the healing along. It wouldn't be healed completely by the end of the week but she would at least be able to move around with crutches without having too much pain.

"Thank you for helping me." Haku said when Anko finished. "You don't have to do this so why do you help me?"

"It's simple. Naru-chan is our little sister and when Yuugao and I took her in we promised each other that we would do anything within our power to make her happy." Anko smiled while looking at Naruko. "This is the first time in all those months that we've seen her go against us and that means she truly thinks of you as a member of her family so that leaves us no choice. But I warn you, if you do anything to make her cry I won't hesitate to protect her."

"I know; I swear that I won't ever do anything to make her cry. She's my best friend." Haku said to Anko looking straight at her.

"Good, then welcome to the family." Yuugao said as she came up to sit next to Anko.

* * *

Meanwhile in Konoha, Sarutobi was reviewing the information that he had received from Yuugao. He wasn't surprised to hear that Gato had once more betrayed the Missing-Nin he had hired before. The man was a disgrace and Sarutobi couldn't wait to see the man when he heard how his organization was destroyed under his very nose. Thanks to the reports of Yuugao he had been able to map most of Gato's empire and he and Daimyo had decided to deal with him as soon as possible. Now that Sarutobi knew that by the end of next week Gato would be in Wave to witness the destruction of the bridge he quickly contacted the Daimyo and formed a strategy. The Daimyo and his forces would take on the middlemen and buyers while ANBU would deal with the stronger and bigger places. They would coordinate the attacks making it so that by the end of the day Gato would be nothing more than bad memory.

The Sandaime wrote his instructions into a scroll and ordered Yuugao and her team to capture Gato alive so that he could be questioned for any information they might have missed. The fact that Ibiki would be the one interrogating Gato made Sarutobi even grin more. Ibiki had his ways to make someone talk and if Gato was just as cowardly as the Sandaime thought he was he would be spilling his guts after only ten minutes of being in Ibiki's care. That would teach the man that crime always comes back to bite you in the ass no matter who you are or how much money you have. He called a Chuunin and ordered him to tie the scroll to a messenger bird and went to bed after a hard day of doing paperwork.

* * *

Yes, it's already the end of the chapter. I hope it was adequate and that you enjoyed it. Now, what's Naruko's secret jutsu? What will happen on the bridge and will Haku be allowed to join Konoha? Find out in the next chapter. See you soon.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Naruto.

Hi everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I hope everyone had a good two weeks. For me, its busy, busy, busy. I just moved to a new place where there is no internet yet. Makes reading and updating a major pain in my lower backside. Normally, I will have internet by the end of the month or the week before that. This chapter is published from a friends' house so thanks for that, Michel.

Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Nine: Past, present and future

Kakashi and Kurenai were discussing the plan for Gato's attack later that week. Now that they knew that Gato had betrayed Zabuza and his companion they were a bit more at ease since thugs and bandits were not really a problem for two Jounin and six Genin. Kakashi guessed that Gato would definitely bring enough manpower but that wasn't too much of a problem. They figured that once the mercenaries saw how strong shinobi were and how quickly their comrades fell, most of them would retreat fearing for their lives.

"I think we should post a guard here to protect Tazuna's family." Kurenai said thinking loudly. "I wouldn't be surprised if scum like Gato would attack them just to deal a blow to Tazuna."

"Not a bad idea." Kakashi agreed. "Who should we ask to say behind? I know for sure that Sasuke will refuse and Sakura will go where Sasuke goes."

"Kiba won't accept it either and I don't want to leave Hinata alone, you never know."Kurenai nodded. "I think Shino is the best for the job. He's calm, collected and the strongest; he might be stronger than Sasuke."

"Stronger than Sasuke, huh?" Kakashi said agreeing with her choice. "He'll do a great job; I have no doubt of that."

"I'll ask him tonight." Kurenai nodded. "Has each member of your team had their first kill?"

"Yes, though only Sasuke seems to have dealt with that issue completely." Kakashi sighed. "Sakura and Tsuyoshi still haven't recovered in my opinion. How about your team?"

"Kiba and Shino have no problem with killing though they fiercely dislike doing so." Kurenai admitted. "Hinata is very reluctant to kill opponents though she has been making some great progress over the past few months."

"She's a nice girl, a bit shy though."Kakashi said.

"Yeah, though she has changed for the better after I had put her under a Genjutsu that showed her what could happen if she didn't take training and fighting seriously." Kurenai smiled.

"Genjutsu? What kind of Genjutsu?" Kakashi asked interested. 'Maybe I could use it to motivate Sakura a bit more?'

"It was Naruko who gave me the idea." Kurenai explained. "She said that if Hinata was afraid to spar or fight than maybe she needed to see what could happen to Shino, Kiba and me during a mission. I thought about it and after trying everything else to help her, I used it. The Genjutsu showed her not giving her all during a fight and as a result the three of us got captured and killed by the enemy while she was taken prisoner."

"That's kind of harsh, isn't it?" Kakashi said surprised that Kurenai would use such methods.

"It is." Kurenai agreed. "But it worked perfectly. She was mad at me for about two days before she came to see asking for help to get stronger and better. Ever since that day she has been training harder than ever before."

After that Kurenai went to see Shino and asked if he would accept to stay here on the day of the fight to protect Tazuna's family. Shino didn't have any objection and nodded his agreement. Kurenai thanked him and promised him that she would make it up to him. Shino didn't really care one way or the other; it was an order from his sensei and to refuse would not only be disrespectful but also illogical as he knew that the threat to Tazuna's family was real enough.

* * *

Haku was watching Naruko sleep early in the morning. She had been up for almost half an hour and she spend it by staring at the girl currently sleeping beside her. She remembered what Anko and Yuugao had told her the night before and she still had a hard time believing that a wonderful girl like Naruko didn't have any friends in her village. Haku's hand gently took a lock of hair that hung in front of Naruko's eyes and tucked it after her ear, careful not to wake her. She vowed once more that, if she was permitted to live in Konoha, she would do anything in her power to make Naruko happy just like Anko and Yuugao had promised as well. She smiled as Naruko's eyes slowly opened and took in her surroundings.

"Good morning, Naru-chan." Haku smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept great thanks." Naruko said after letting a yawn escape. "How are you feeling? Does your leg still hurt as much?"

"I'm fine. Anko-san used her jutsu once more last night." Haku said nodding. "I think that in a few days I might be able to move around."

"That's great." Naruko said happily.

"Naru-chan, can I ask you a question?" Haku asked carefully.

"Euh sure, what do you want to know?" Naruko said surprised.

"I want to know the real Naruko." Haku said. "I mean, when we talked we kind of told lies about ourselves. I want to know you, the real you."

"Oh okay, I guess that's fine." Naruko nodded as well. "But on one condition. After I'm done you tell me your story, deal?"

"Deal." Haku nodded smiling brightly.

"Well, what exactly do you want to know?" Naruko asked.

"Anko-san told me that you didn't have many friends in Konoha." Haku said. "Why is that? She told me a little about it but she said the rest wasn't her story to tell."

"It's true that I don't have any friends my age back in Konoha." Naruko sighed. "There're several reasons for that but some are a secret so I can't tell you until I get permission from Ji-chan."

"Ji-chan is the Hokage right?" Haku asked. "You must be close with him to call him that?"

"Oh yeah, Ji-chan and I are very close. In fact he's about the only man I truly trust." Naruko smiled when she thought about the old man. "He's really nice and when you know him, he's a real softie. Don't get me wrong, he can be pretty scary when he's mad but with me he's always been kind and gentle. He gave me my own place after I left the orphanage when I turned seven. Even before then he always came to check on me and protected me from people who wished me harm."

"Why would people wish you harm?" Haku asked surprised.

"That's part of the secret so I can't tell." Naruko said hoping her friend wouldn't get mad but when Haku smiled at her Naruko's fears melted as snow on a hot summer day. "Anyway, other than Ji-chan there's Ayame-neechan and her father who have a ramen stand where you'll get the best ramen in the whole world. I'll take you there once we're in Konoha. Those are the people I truly trust in Konoha outside Anko-neechan and Yuugao-neechan."

"How did you meet Anko-san and Yuugao-san?" Haku asked interested wanting to learn more.

"Well, Yuugao-neechan was my personal guard." Naruko said. "She protected me since I left the orphanage. Although at that time I knew her as Neko-chan as she was an ANBU. She was my role model and I always wanted to become just like her. When I graduated from the Academy, Yuugao-neechan became my sensei and she invited me to live with her and Anko-neechan so we could become a family. They're the best sisters I could ever have hoped for and I love them very much." Naruko said looking at where Anko and Yuugao were still sleeping.

"Anko-san told me that the girls in your class didn't like you. Why was that?" Haku asked.

"Oh that's easy. Those girls were nothing more than fangirls, all chasing Uchiha Sasuke the number one shinobi of our class." Naruko snorted. "When I told them that I disliked boys they just labeled me as a weirdo and ignored me. They didn't understand why I wasn't interested in Sasuke and frankly I never understood why they were interested in him in the first place. "

"Sounds pretty stupid to me." Haku nodded. "I mean, what's so special about the boy?"

"Oh I guess it was because he's the last of the Uchiha clan and he's strong and talented." Naruko shrugged. "In the end I didn't really care one way or the other. They left me in peace most of the time and that was fine with me."

"But why didn't you become friends with the boys in your class?" Haku asked and saw Naruko flinch slightly. "I'm sorry; you don't have to answer that if you don't want to." She quickly added.

"No, it's okay." Naruko assured her. "When I said that Ji-chan is the only man I trust I meant that quite literally. He's the only one that's allowed to hug me or touch me. You see, a few weeks after I started at the academy I went out to do some shopping and a drunken man attacked me." Haku gasped at hearing that. "I was about ten years old and he knocked me out with a bottle before dragging me to a dark alley." Haku saw that Naruko had trouble continuing and she gently took Naruko's hand in hers and intertwined her fingers with Naruko's. "Luckily, Yuugao-neechan saved me before he could do anything but ever since I have a fierce distrust of men. After that I told the boys of my class to leave me alone or suffer the consequences."

"I'm sorry Naru-chan." Haku said softly. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay." Naruko said wiping a lone tear. "You're my friend so I don't mind telling you."

Haku raised her hand and placed it on Naruko's cheek before she closed the distance between them and gave Naruko a gentle kiss on the lips. Naruko was shocked at first but then she felt so right and she relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of Haku's lips on hers. After about half a minute Haku removed her lips and Naruko immediately missed the feeling. She opened her eyes and looked at Haku with a bright red face. Haku too was blushing but not as much as Naruko was and she had a nice smile on her face.

"Oh, you two are so cute." A voice said bringing them both out of trance. They turned to where the sound came from and saw Yuugao and Anko sitting there looking at them.

"Anko-neechan, Yuugao-neechan I thought you two were still sleeping." Naruko said embarrassed.

"Maybe you were enjoying that kiss too much to notice we've been awake for quite some time now?" Yuugao laughed as the two girls got even redder.

"Our little sister is growing up." Anko said hugging Naruko rubbing her cheek against Naruko's. "So, how was it? Did you like it? Is Haku-chan a good kisser?"

"Anko-neechan!" Naruko whined loudly.

"Okay Anko, leave them alone." Yuugao laughed. "We can tease them later on but for now we need to get breakfast ready. Haku-chan, if you don't mind I would like to hear your story as well. We need to get to know you as well as it seems you'll be staying with us for a long time."

"S-Sure, no p-problem Yuugao-san." Haku said blushing but still holding Naruko's hand.

When Anko had finished making breakfast the four of them all sat together and enjoyed the meal. Haku and Naruko were still embarrassed that the two women had seen the kiss they shared and they desperately avoided looking at each other for the time being. Luckily neither Anko nor Yuugao had commented on the fact that until they started eating Haku and Naruko were still holding hands. Naruko doubted that they didn't notice but she was grateful that they didn't tease them about it. She knew however that Anko wasn't done with teasing and embarrassing them about the kiss. When they finished breakfast Yuugao asked Haku to tell them about her.

"Well, I was born in a small village in Mizu no Kuni not too far from Kirigakure." Haku started. "I lived with my parents in a small house and while we didn't have much we were very happy. My parents loved me and I loved them even though life was sometimes difficult. Unfortunately, a civil war had broken out several years before and the Mizukage was a man with deep grudges and hatred for people with a Kekkei Genkai."

"Why did he hate them?" Naruko asked her.

"Well, I don't really know the details but Zabuza-sama told me that most of the rebels that fought against the Mizukage had a Kekkei Genkai." Haku answered. "After the war was over the Mizukage ordered the death of everyone with a Kekkei Genkai. A lot of people got killed and many hid and tried to get away by pretending not to have one." Haku continued. "However, every once in a while people got discovered and were killed on the spot. My mother was one of those people with a Kekkei Genkai."

"So you have one as well?" Yuugao asked interested.

"Yes, I have a Kekkei Genkai that allows me to use Hyouton Ninjutsu." Haku nodded and she showed by doing some handseals and a slab of ice formed in front of them. The three Konoha kunoichi were very impressed but didn't comment on it as they noticed Haku's pained expression. "When my father found out that my mother had this Kekkei Genkai he went berserk. He attacked her and my mother didn't defend herself against him."

"No doubt she loved him too much." Anko said softly.

"Maybe but when he turned on me as well I activated my Kekkei Genkai and accidentally killed my own father." Haku said tears freely falling from her eyes and Naruko grabbed her in a hug. Haku wrapped her arms around Naruko and cried. When she could cry no more she thanked Naruko and continued. "After that I left the village and wandered around until Zabuza-sama found me. He was leaving Kirigakure as he didn't agree with how things were at the time. He had a use for me and not wanting to be alone anymore I followed him."

"So he taught you how to be a shinobi." Yuugao said nodding.

"Yes, I was his tool and weapon." Haku answered. "It might sound awful but to me it was the greatest feeling. I knew that someone needed me; that I wasn't unwanted and I pledged myself to him. Ever since the day he took me in, we wandered around and got hired for some odd jobs. We weren't supposed to be traveling so long; Zabuza-sama wanted to return to Kiri and become the ruler. Unfortunately we always had to deal with Hunter-Nins who were after Zabuza-sama's bounty."

"And then you got hired by Gato." Anko finished.

"Yes, and now Zabuza-sama is dead and I'm alone again." Haku said sobbing before flinging herself into Naruko's arms.

"It's okay Haku-chan." Naruko said holding her friend. "You're not alone. I'm here and so are Yuugao-neechan and Anko-neechan. You're my friend and part of my family now so you'll never be alone again, I swear."

"Really?" Haku said silently.

"Naruko-chan is right." Yuugao said while getting up. "I admit that I wasn't sure about you joining us but I am now. Haku-chan, you're now part of our family and we take care of our own. From this moment on you're our little sister as well."

"Damn right, you are." Anko added smiling.

"Thank you Anko-san, Yuugao-san." Haku said with a small smile.

"You can call us neechan just like Naruko does." Anko said giving the girl a hug.

Just then the messenger bird that Sandaime had requested arrived with his instructions and Yuugao read it out loud so that her companions could hear it as well. When she read the part that Gato was to be captured alive Naruko and Haku protested but Anko told them that if Gato was needed alive it only meant that he was going to be questioned. She then explained that Gato would suffer far more by keeping him alive than giving him a quick death.

"Trust me; Ibiki has his ways to make people talk." Anko smirked. "And that way he'll know that everything he ever worked for is gone."

"Anko is right." Yuugao agreed. "Death is too good for a man like Gato. It's better to let him know that everything he held dear was taken from him."

Haku thought about it for a bit and eventually agreed not to kill Gato on the spot. Knowing that the man would pay for his crimes was enough and she didn't want to lose her friend by going against orders from her possible future leader. After that Anko left to monitor Gato once more while Yuugao went to inform Kakashi and Kurenai that Gato was to be captured alive.

* * *

The day of the final battle had finally come. Anko and Yuugao had continued spying on Gato and had counted the number of mercenaries that the man had hired to be around several dozen. They weren't too worried about as Kakashi and Kurenai were Jounin and were more than strong enough to deal with thugs like that. Still they would be there to lean a hand if necessary and this was why they were heading towards the bridge right now.

Haku's leg hadn't completely healed, which was expected, but she was able to walk around with crutches that Naruko had made a few days ago. She had discarded her former outfit and now wore a pair of Naruko's spare clothes. She and Naruko wore the exact same outfit and Yuugao had to admit that Haku looked just as impressive as Naruko while wearing those clothes. Haku had like the outfit immediately as it showed that she meant business and it make her feel part of the group.

"Okay, remember that our main objective is to capture Gato." Yuugao said once more. "We will not engage into battle unless Team 7 and 8 are in trouble. Once they defeated most of the mercenaries we'll make our move."

The others nodded and took their positions just passed the bridge, hiding in the trees that provided them with a clear view of the soon to be battlefield. Half an hour later they saw Team 7 and 8 arrived and the Genin seemed to be a bit nervous but otherwise fine. Kakashi and Kurenai sensed their backup sitting in the tree and gave a subtle nod. The workers arrived soon after and started working on the final part of the bridge. Tazuna, who didn't know that today was the day that Gato would attack, ordered the men around and helped in the construction while the Konoha shinobi watched and waited.

* * *

For several hours things were very calm and the work went very well. Tazuna was looking over some blueprints when all of the sudden Kakashi and Kurenai ordered their Genin to set up a perimeter and guard the workers. Tazuna was about to ask what was going on when a boat approached the bridge and soon dozens of men climbed up. Lastly Gato appeared and Tazuna gritted his teeth at seeing the man that killed his son-in-law.

"Gato, what are you doing here?" Tazuna yelled out.

"Magnificent work you've done here." Gato said ignoring Tazuna's question. "Really impressive. Too bad I can't allow this bridge to exist. You see, it would harm my business and that's something I can't allow."

"You son of a….." Tazuna said cursing. "You dare come here after almost destroying us and now you want to take away our last hope?"

"Hope? This bridge?" Gato laughed loudly. "My dear man, you should have known that you can't win against me. While you might have a few shinobi to protect you, I have greatly outnumbered them and they will fall just like everyone else in this pathetic country."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Kakashi said asking Tazuna to get behind the Genin so that they could protect them. "You made a serious miscalculation by betraying Zabuza and his companion."

"Those two were weak." Gato snorted.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Kakashi chuckled. "Zabuza was far from weak, in fact he almost defeated us and now that he's gone you don't stand a chance against us."

"Have you looked around, idiot?" Gato laughed. "You're outnumbered at least five to one and you say we don't stand a chance."

"Exactly." Kakashi nodded. "I admit that we would have been in trouble if you had let us fight Zabuza first. We would have been tired, perhaps injured making us easy prey. But since that's not the case we can fight at the fullest of our capacities."

"Be that as it may, there's only two of you and a bunch of children." Gato said angry.

"True, they're young but each of them is one of the strongest of their generation and more than enough to defeat a group of thugs." Kakashi said before he nodded to Kurenai.

"Sakura, Hinata the two of you protect the workers and stop anyone that might pass us from entering the village." Kurenai ordered. "Sasuke, Kiba and Tsuyoshi, the three of you are with us."

"ATTACK, KILL THEM ALL." Gato roared. "THE ONE WHO BRINGS ME THE BRIDGE BUIDLER'S HEAD WILL NEVER NEED MONEY AGAIN."

From the trees the four kunoichi saw how the battle erupted. If you could call it a battle; Kakashi and Kurenai took out most of the mercenaries with ease while the three Genin fought several thugs as well. Naruko and Haku weren't really impressed with the skills the Genin showed as they watched them fight. Oh sure, they used some cool techniques and Jutsu but it was kind of let down that they needed to retort to using Jutsu to fight them. Naruko looked over at Sakura who was shouting out encouragement for the Uchiha while Hinata was focused on the battle in case one of the thugs made it past her sensei and teammate.

"Look at her, cheering on her crush." Anko snorted. "Really, is that all she thinks about? Doesn't she realize that this is a mission and not some sport event?"

"Heads up, it's almost our turn." Yuugao said. The others looked at the bridge and saw that most of the thugs and mercenaries were already defeated.

Gato, who was shocked at seeing his army decimated by the Konoha shinobi, cursed his luck. Maybe he should have waited to kill off Zabuza like that masked shinobi had said. He was certain that his army would be able to defeat any shinobi that bridge builder had hired but now he was proven otherwise. When the last of his men fell down on the hard surface of the bridge he knew that things had just gotten worse.

"Don't come any closer." Gato said terrified as the Konoha shinobi approached him. Sasuke just smirked and was about to move when Kakashi put his arm in front of him.

"No Sasuke, Gato isn't ours to deal with." Kakashi said making Sasuke frown. He was about to ask what he meant when four people appeared in front of them. He didn't recognize three of them but he did recognize the blonde that used to be in his class.

"What are they doing here?" Sasuke and Kiba asked their sensei.

"We're here to capture Gato." Yuugao said without turning around.

"What? That's not fair, we defeated them." Kiba yelled out.

"Kiba, stand down." Kurenai ordered. "Yuugao and her team have been assigned this mission by the Hokage himself."

"But…" Kiba started.

"You should listen to your sensei." Anko said turning around grinning wickedly. "Besides, we have been on this mission for over a month."

"Gato, you're finished." Yuugao said to him. "As we speak the Daimyo's forces and Konoha's ANBU are destroying your entire operation. By tonight, all your companies and illegal activities will be put to a stop."

"W-What? T-that's i-impossible." Gato stammered. "Y-You c-can't do this to me."

Yuugao just moved her hand and Naruko shot forward and appeared behind Gato hitting him in the back of his head with the hilt of her Tanto. Gato lost consciousness and crashed into the ground. Anko walked over and put a restraining seal on him which would assure them that he stayed quiet until they reached Konoha. Once that was done Anko hoisted him over her shoulder and nodded.

"Thanks for your help Team 7 and 8." Yuugao smiled at Kakashi and the rest. "I'm glad to see that you didn't need our help. We'll see you back in Konoha." And with that the four kunoichi disappeared.

"Hey, what did she mean with 'didn't need our help'?" Kiba said irritated.

"They were watching over our fight and would have helped us when needed." Kurenai explained. "They were ordered as our backup by the Hokage."

The Genin weren't very glad to hear that and they protested loudly that they were strong enough to deal with a few thugs without having to need backup. Kakashi agreed with them saying that yes, they were strong enough to fight thugs and bandits but that if Gato had been smart enough to keep Zabuza alive or hire some new Missing-Nin then they would have been in trouble. He also told them that Yuugao and her team knew that they wouldn't have any trouble fighting as they didn't interfere during the battle.

Once Wave knew that Gato was defeated a huge party erupted in the village and it seemed that the depressing mood had vanished. After the parties Tazuna had more than enough workers to help finish the bridge and he told Kakashi and Kurenai that they would be allowed to leave in a few days.

* * *

So? How was it? I like how Haku and Naruko opened up to each other. Also don't read too much into that kiss Haku gave Naruko just yet. It was a spur of the moment thing for her but it will have a big impact on Naruko and Haku. I won't drag everything out too much, They will get together soon, I promise. I didn't really want to do the fight on the bridge again. It's been done in so many ways before that I just couldn't make it interesting anymore. I just opted to do it this way as it was the only way to make it somewhat acceptable in my mind. I'm going to try and make some original story lines starting after the invasion. Any ideas? Let me know and see you soon, hopefully with internet by then lol.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. It's been two weeks already, time sure goes fast when you're having fun. Not much news to tell so I'll just let you read the chapter. Like always, let me know what you thoughts were and any and all ideas are welcome.

* * *

Chapter Ten: A new resident in Konoha

It took two days to reach Konoha for the four kunoichi and the tightly bound, unconscious and bruised Gato. The reason why Gato was bruised? Well, let's just say that Anko dropped him a few times. By accident of course. During the two days the four women had gotten to know each other even better and now even Anko and Yuugao considered Haku as one of them. It was hard not to love the girl as she was so gently and polite. Not only that but she managed to calm down Naruko when she was having one of her more active moments as well.

The girl explained a bit more about her Kekkei Genkai though she did warn them that she didn't have that many jutsu to begin with. While, she had one major offensive jutsu called 'Makyou Hyoushou' that allowed her to make mirrors which she used to fight her opponent, she didn't have any Hyouton Ninjutsu at the moment. Naruko who was very fascinated with Haku's Kekkei Genkai promised her that they would try and make some other jutsu for her to use.

Once they passed the gates, after having to explain who Haku was and why she was here, they went straight to the Hokage Tower to give the Sandaime their report and deliver Gato. Sandaime ushered them inside once his secretary had announced their arrival and while he was surprised at the extra girl he waited until Yuugao delivered her report.

"Excellent work, all of you." Sandaime said while calling Ibiki over so he could start the interrogation. "I received word from the Daimyo that Gato's empire is all but destroyed and anyone we missed, I'm sure Ibiki will find out. Now, I assume you have a reason for bringing Haku-san with you?"

"Actually Hokage-sama, it's Naruko here who all but demanded to bring her with us." Yuugao said.

"Oh, and why is that Naruko-chan?" Sandaime asked interested. "Please explain yourself."

"Ji-chan, she's my first friend." Naruko said looking him straight in the eyes. "The two of us became friends without knowing that the other was a kunoichi. I couldn't leave her alone, now could I?"

"Naruko-chan, that's not how things work." Sandaime sighed. "Haku-san is a Missing-Nin from Kiri. We can't just allow her to become a Konoha shinobi."

"You're wrong." Naruko said strongly. "Haku-chan might have traveled with Zabuza; that is true. She's been trained by him, yes. But she was never an official shinobi of Kiri to begin with. He took her with him when he left Kiri."

"Is this true Haku-san?" Sandaime asked the girl in question.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Zabuza-sama taught me to be a kunoichi." Haku nodded.

"You see, Haku-chan isn't a Missing-Nin." Naruko smiled.

"But she still fought against Konoha shinobi." Sandaime frowned.

"If I may interrupt, Hokage-sama?" Yuugao said. "Haku-chan never directly fought or harmed anyone of us. She rescued Zabuza by faking his death but not once did she injure one of us."

"Please, allow her to stay Ji-chan." Naruko pleaded. "She's my best friend and she's really a great girl." Seeing the doubt in his eyes Naruko used her secret jutsu that always worked. She moved a bit closer and looked at him with the saddest puppy dog eyes known to mankind. In the corners of her eyes a small tear formed and her lower lip started to quiver.

The Sandaime winced when he looked at his adoptive granddaughter and he tried to look away from those damned eyes. Haku, who stood right next to Naruko noticed what the blonde was doing and figured that she might as well help and she too turned to the secret jutsu known as the 'puppy dog eye no jutsu'. The Sandaime cursed at seeing that Naruko had a partner in crime and almost gave in on the spot but he managed to harden his heart in time.

Anko too noticed what the girls were doing and she joined in. While not as innocent looking as the two younger girls she too performed the look to perfection and now the Sandaime was close to breaking point. The three women noticed this and Anko grabbed Yuugao and dragged her forward to join them. Yuugao refused at first but in the end she too used the puppy dog eye look. Needless the say the Sandaime's resolve cracked and he nodded his agreement that Haku could stay.

"Thanks Ji-chan, you're the best." Naruko said happily hugging the man.

"How could I refuse after that?" Sandaime sighed. "You four are evil. Fine, Haku-chan can stay and join your team but she will be on probation for one month, is that clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Haku answered smiling.

"Very well, now you said something about a Kekkei Genkai?" Sandaime asked. "Don't worry, you're not in any trouble but I need to know so that I don't get any surprises from my advisors. They're focused on Kekkei Genkai, foolishly believing that Konoha needs them."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Haku said before she demonstrated her jutsu.

"Very impressive. Though I feel the need to warn you Haku-san." Sandaime warned her. "Some people might want you to start a clan and produce heirs so that in the future Konoha might have many Hyouton users."

"What? That's not right." Naruko yelled outraged.

"It's okay Naru-chan." Haku said smiling. "I regret to inform you ,Hokage-sama, that I'm unable to conceive children due to a previous battle injury." To prove she lifted her shirt and showed the Hokage a faint scar on her stomach just where her uterus is located.

"I'm very sorry to hear that Haku-chan." Sandaime said sadly. It wasn't unusual for a kunoichi to have such an injury but it always made him sad to hear it.

"No problem Hokage-sama, I already made my peace with it." Haku said while Naruko grabbed her in a hug.

"Well, in that case you're free to go and please have your leg checked out in the hospital." Sandaime smiled softly at seeing Naruko hug the girl. "I would like to talk a bit more with Anko and Yuugao so why don't you two head for the hospital?"

"Okay, see you later ji-chan." Naruko said dragging Haku with her. When the two girls left the Sandaime turned to Anko and Yuugao.

"How do the two of you feel about having Haku here?" he asked.

"I know its irregular Hokage-sama but I see no problems with Haku joining us." Yuugao said smiling. "I'm sure you saw how attached Naruko has become of her?"

"Yes, she seems happier than ever." The Hokage said.

"The two of them have become really close over the past few days and Naruko helped Haku deal with Zabuza's death." Anko added. "That and Haku has quite the effect on Naruko as well."

"In what way?" Sandaime asked.

"Well, Naruko is always active, hard to keep quiet and sometimes a little bit too headstrong." Yuugao said. "Haku on the other hand is a calm and reserved person and she's able to calm down Naruko with a slight touch or a few words. I think they complement each other rather well."

"I see, well we'll have to see what happens." Sandaime nodded. "I still want you to keep an eye on her just in case. I doubt she's up to something but you never know."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." The two women said and left the office to go home and get some rest. When they exited the Hokage Tower, Yuugao groaned loudly making Anko ask what was wrong.

"I can't believe I 'puppy dog eyed' the Sandaime Hokage." Yuugao said making Anko laugh. "That was so undignified."

"Oh come on, Yuu-chan it was for a good cause and you know it." Anko said wrapping her arm around her lover's shoulder. "Naru-chan will love us even more for it."

"She better not make me regret this." Yuugao said hotly.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruko was dragging Haku around Konoha after Haku's leg had been checked out by a certified Medic-Nin. According to the doctor her leg was recovering well and she would regain full mobility within a week or so provided that they continued the use of the Medical Jutsu they had used so far. Once that was done Haku found herself dragged all over Konoha by Naruko but she liked it immensely. The village was a beautiful place to live in Haku concluded. There were small parks, where children played without worries while parents kept on eye on them from the side; there were shops and boutiques that sold everything from food to the rarest things and Haku knew it would take weeks if not months to get to see everything that Konoha had to offer.

"I can see why you love this place so much." Haku said when they sat down for a bit.

"Yeah, Konoha is great." Naruko smiled. "I'm sure you'll like it here."

"I don't doubt that one bit." Haku said while taking Naruko's hand in hers. Naruko blushed a bit but didn't pull her hand back and they just enjoyed the feeling of sitting there next to each other without talking for a while.

After sitting there for a bit Naruko's stomach let itself known by emitting a loud sound making her blush even more than before. Deciding that they might as well get something to eat Naruko proposed that they went to Ichiraku ramen. Haku, already knowing Naruko's love for the food stall didn't object and she followed smiling at Naruko's enthusiasm. When they arrived Haku was surprised that the place really was as small as Naruko had described it but she could see how warm and cozy the atmosphere was even from the outside.

"Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-ossan there's someone I would like you to meet." Naruko said immediately. "This is my best friend, Haku-chan."

"Oho, hi there Haku-san. How are you doing?" Ayame said smiling brightly at hearing Naruko's words.

"I'm doing great thank you." Haku said politely. "Naru-chan told me a lot about the two of you."

"I'm met Haku-chan on a mission and now she's going to be part of my team." Naruko told the two people behind the counter. "I'll take four Miso-ramen, please."

"Coming right up, and for you Haku-san?" Teuchi nodded.

"I'll take one shrimp-ramen, please." Haku said after looking at the menu.

"Only one? You should eat more, Haku-chan. Ichiraku ramen is the best in Hi no Kuni." Naruko said.

"I'll start with one, Naru-chan and if I'm still hungry I'll order a second one." Haku said smiling but she knew that one would be more than enough for her judging by the bowl she saw on the counter.

"Yeah, not everyone has your appetite, you know." Ayame joked.

"Hey, I'm a growing girl and need my…." The rest of Naruko's protest was forgotten as Teuchi placed the first bowl in front of her and she attacked it with vigor.

Haku looked on in amazement as Naruko devoured the four bowls of ramen without problem. She knew that the girl loved the ramen, and she had to admit that it was without a doubt the tastiest ramen she had ever eaten, but this was just too much. She giggled a bit when she noticed a noodle hanging from Naruko's chin and when Naruko looked at her to ask why she was laughing Haku just reached out and grabbed the noodle before eating it. Naruko looked shocked at first but then she joined in the laughter.

* * *

While the two girls were enjoying themselves Sandaime had to deal with what he called on of the biggest pain in his backside, his advisors and Danzo. Apparently they had already found out about Haku and no doubt they were going to grill him on the matter. His advisors, who were his formers teammates, weren't happy with his decision to allow Haku to join their forces but in the end there wasn't much they could do about it. Just like Naruko had pointed out, Haku wasn't an official Missing-Nin from Kiri and thus there were no rules against her joining Konoha. Danzo on the other hand seemed giddy to find out that the girl had a bloodline so powerful. How the man had found out already was a mystery to the Sandaime but he wasn't surprised at all.

"Sarutobi, I'm sure you understand how valuable such a Kekkei Genkai could be to Konoha." Danzo started. "We must insure that she produces some heirs so that Konoha can use this in the future."

"Danzo, be very careful about your next words." Sandaime said softly but the three of them understood that Sarutobi was absolutely serious. "If I find out that you did anything to cause harm or grief to this girl I will forget all the services you have done for Konoha and have you executed for treason."

"Sarutobi, you can't be…" Danzo said but the Sandaime stood up and blasted him with the full power of his killing intent.

"You will listen and you will listen well." Sandaime barked. "Konoha has never cared about Kekkei Genkai and never will. We value teamwork and hard work; that's how we have become the strongest village in the Elemental Lands and so it shall remain. You have always put too much focus on those with a Kekkei Genkai but this stops now. I will tell you the same thing as I said almost fourteen years ago when you all but demanded Naruko to be trained as a weapon. It is our love for our loved ones and our village that makes us strong, not a Kekkei Genkai or a bijuu sealed inside our body."

"Surely you can see the advantages of having a clan with such a Kekkei Genkai?" Homura said also wanting to see the bloodline in Konoha.

"A Kekkei Genkai is a tool, just like a kunai and a shuriken." Sandaime continued pretending not have heard his former teammate. "If it's wielded by someone who's incompetent it's worth almost nothing. You people seem to forget that some of our strongest shinobi didn't have a bloodline yet they became the ones who protected our village against every adversary." Sandaime sighed as he had had this conversation dozens of time before. He remembered when it was found out that one of the experiments of Orochimaru had survived and was able to use the fabled Mokuton jutsu of the Shodaime Hokage. It wasn't even sure if the bloodline would pass on to the man's offspring but the three of them had demanded that he impregnated several women as soon as he became capable. At that moment too he had refused to give the young boy that order saying that when the man decided to begin a family they would see if the bloodline was passed on and not before. "Besides, Haku is incapable of conceiving children due to a battle injury and before you ask, it was confirmed by a Medic-Nin during her check up."

That had closed that conversation right there and the three had left the office soon after but Sandaime knew that they would be back. It wasn't that they had bad intentions, each one of them wanted to make sure that Konoha remained the strongest village but it was their methods that made the Sandaime frown. Especially Danzo was dangerous on that point; he was sure that if Danzo could get away with it he would take power by any means necessary. Luckily he wasn't well like amongst the shinobi forces as he was more of a tyrant than a leader. In Danzo's mind a shinobi was a tool at the disposal of the Hokage, to use as he saw fit. That was one of the reasons the man never got elected as Hokage in the first place. Still, the man had build a division called 'Root' that was loyal to him and this was cause of worry to the Sandaime. He knew that officially 'Root' was disbanded but he made himself no illusions.

'I'll be watching you Danzo.' The Sandaime thought. 'If I find that you went out of line, you'll regret it.'

When Naruko and Haku reached Yuugao's and Anko's apartment the two were died tired after spending most of the day running around Konoha and having fun. Yuugao and Anko on the other hand had relaxed a bit at home. Haku was quickly shown around in her new home as Yuugao insisted that she lived with them as well. Haku liked the cozy apartment immediately and felt very welcome thanks to three kunoichi that she would be living with.

"Okay since we only have one spare bedroom you and Naruko will have to share." Yuugao said. "Now, since the two of you will be sleeping in the same room we need to make some rules."

"Rules? What rules?" Naruko asked surprised.

"What she means is that when you two fool around you need to close the door." Anko smirked and to her immense pleasure both Naruko and Haku got bright red.

"That's right." Yuugao joined in the fun. "Anko and I don't need to hear all that and also we expect you to clean the room afterwards and put on fresh sheets."

"I… We….We're not…." Naruko stammered before she looked at Haku and blushed even more.

Having had their fun Yuugao and Anko laughed loudly before apologizing for teasing them. They told them that whatever the two of them did in their bedroom was none of their business and unless they asked them for questions they wouldn't tease them anymore about it. Naruko just dragged Haku to their room and went inside but left the door wide open so that her sisters wouldn't get any wrong ideas.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Anko asked.

"I'm thinking that our little Naru-chan has a crush." Yuugao smiled at her girlfriend.

"Yup, that's what I'm thinking as well." Anko nodded in agreement. "I wonder how long it will take because I'm pretty sure Haku is interested as well."

"Just let them figure it out on their own." Yuugao said before going to the kitchen to make some tea.

* * *

The next morning Haku woke up in her new room and she had never slept better; it was a new thing for her to be part of a family after all these years and she enjoyed it greatly. While Anko and Yuugao could be merciless in their teasing, Haku knew that she could count on them. She looked at Naruko who was still sleeping. The girl was lying on the bed with one leg dangling out of it and one arm behind her pillow. Haku giggled a bit at seeing her friend's sleeping position and quietly sneaked out of the room. When she opened the door the smell of breakfast make her stomach growl loudly.

"Good morning Anko-sa…neechan." Haku said smiling.

"Good morning Haku, do you want some breakfast?" Anko said to her.

"Yes, please." Haku said she set the table for them. Once she was done she sat herself down and watched as Anko place a pancake on her plate.

"These are Naruko's favorite." Anko winked. "I'll bet you anything that she'll come running in any minute now."

And just like Anko said Naruko stormed into the kitchen with a hungry look on her face and after greeting them a good morning she attacked the stack of pancakes that Anko had already made. Yuugao soon joined them and the four of them had a great time.

"So what do you have planned for today?" Anko asked Yuugao.

"Well, seeing as we got two days off I was thinking to get Haku-chan here some clothes and stuff." Yuugao said thinking. "Other than that I think we'll do some light training for Haku and some serious training for Naru-chan."

"Excellent." Anko smirked at seeing Naruko's face. "Cutie here needs some more offensive jutsu and I think it's time to upgrade the gravity seal."

Naruko gulped at hearing that and almost choked on a piece of pancake. She hated having her seal upgraded as it made it so hard to do everything in the beginning. Haku gently patted her on the back while Yuugao and Anko were laughing loudly. After breakfast Haku and Naruko took a shower (separately, even though Anko suggested to take it together) and soon they were walking towards the shop where Naruko had done her shopping a few months back. Haku protested at first when Yuugao said she would cover the expenses but in the end she agreed when Yuugao told her it was a welcome gift from the three of them.

Seeing that Haku was still under observation they couldn't just go to the ANBU HQ and get some equipment so while Anko and the two girls went shopping for other stuff Yuugao quickly went to get everything Haku would need. Haku wanted the same outfit Naruko had except she wanted to wear pants just like Yuugao instead of skirt like Naruko and Anko. They met up later on in the Dango place where they had lunch. Once there Haku couldn't help but see the resemblance between Anko and Naruko when it came to eating their favorite food. After lunch the four went to the training grounds to get some training done.

"Okay Naruko, since you already know the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu I would like to show you a variant of it." Yuugao said. "This one is called Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." And Yuugao demonstrated the jutsu by taking out two shuriken before throwing them at a tree. In mid flight however she quickly did some handseals and the two shuriken multiplied to about twenty shuriken each hitting the target before disappearing.

"Wow, that's so cool." Naruko said enthusiastically. She started by practicing the handseals while Yuugao and Anko asked a few questions to Haku.

"So Haku, what are your strong and weak points?" Anko asked so that they would have an idea what to train her in.

"Well, my speed is very good and I'm capable of doing several Suiton and Fuuton Jutsu." Haku said thinking. "My Taijutsu isn't the best though I'm good with senbon. And then there's my Kekkei Genkai though I only know one jutsu."

"That's pretty good." Yuugao reassured her. "We'll start with focusing on stamina training because Naruko has a lot of that. Maybe you and Naruko could come up with a few techniques or jutsu for you Kekkei Genkai?"

"And I'll help the two of you as well." Anko added.

"For now though I want you to focus on how you could improve your techniques." Yuugao said seeing Haku couldn't do any hard training due to her injury. "Once your leg is healed we'll start with some serious training."

Haku nodded and started thinking about how she could use her Kekkei Genkai to make new jutsu. She and Zabuza had never had much time to think about that kind of thing and it had taken a long time to develop her 'Makyou Hyoushou' technique and while very effective it was also restrictive in many ways. One, she needed a lot of space and secondly it took some time to prepare the jutsu and while that might not be a problem against weaker opponents, it wouldn't work against stronger ones. What she needed was a few techniques that were easy to use and didn't take a lot of chakra to make.

Meanwhile Naruko was having the time of her life practicing this new jutsu. She already had managed to make some replicas of the shuriken she threw but it wasn't enough in her opinion. Her sensei had been able to make twenty copies out of two shuriken and thus that was the number she wanted to achieve as well. She was interrupted in her training however when Yuugao came over and told her to stop with practicing the jutsu for now.

"Alright, it's time to upgrade the seal a bit." Yuugao said making Naruko groan loudly. "Don't make such a face Naru-chan."

Naruko nodded and allowed Yuugao to alter the number that was surrounded by a seal. The seal was placed on her chest just above her heart and made it so that her entire body was under the influence of the seal. The seal wasn't commonly used as it had many disadvantages to those who used it. If they went to fast in upgrading the seal they could cause harm to their bodies and to most it took a long time to get used to the weight. For Naruko however these disadvantages were reduced to almost nothing thanks to the Kyuubi. Her healing abilities prevented the seal from harming her and it also reduced the time needed to get used to the seal.

Naruko immediately felt the change in weight and she found it very hard to move. Her movements were sluggish and slow and she hated every second of it. She was getting used to be able to move at high speed and without a weight to slow her down. Now however she would have to start all over again and that meant days of training her katas and running countless laps around Konoha. Yuugao didn't give her much time to pout and complain and ordered her to go through her katas. Naruko nodded and for the next three hours she went through all of them with Haku looking at her.

"Naru-chan, that was amazing." Haku said impressed. She had seen some of the katas before when Naruko practiced in Wave but now she truly saw what her friend was capable of.

"Thanks Haku-chan but it wasn't all that much." Naruko said blushing at the praise.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Yuugao nodded satisfied with Naruko's work. "Let's get something to eat and then we'll head home."

* * *

That's it for this chapter. Hope it was any good so let me know. See you in two weeks for the next chapter. Bye for now.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own Naruto.

Hello and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. Hope you all had a good two weeks. I'm doing fine and even though I'm a bit behind schedule with writing I'm doing my best to give you a chapter each two weeks. So let me know how it was.

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Of new jutsu's and feelings

It had been two weeks since Haku had joined Konoha and her leg was finally healed. It had been a nuisance to her as she wanted to join Naruko in her training but as long as the Medic Nin didn't announce her completely healed Yuugao and Naruko refused to let her join them. Now however she was back in good health and starting today she would start with Yuugao's training regime or 'Yuugao-neechan's torture sessions' as Naruko affectionately called it sometimes.

Naruko and Haku had a great time now that they lived together and Haku felt straight at home even though she still missed Zabuza. Luckily, whenever she was sad Naruko would manage to cheer her up and Haku was very grateful for that. Naruko was always there for her and once more Haku thanked whatever deity out there for giving her such a wonderful friend.

"Naru-chan, Haku-chan time to get up." Yuugao's voice sounded through the house.

Naruko grumbled something and Haku giggled at seeing the way her friend's hair. It was always standing up in every direction when she woke up and Naruko more than once glared at Haku for laughing about it.

"Stop giggling Haku-chan." Naruko sighed making Haku laugh even more. "Stop it or I'll make you."

"How are you going to do that?" Haku asked between giggles.

"Like this." Naruko said before throwing her pillow at Haku who didn't have time to dodge it thus taking it straight in the face. Now it was Naruko's turn to laugh and because of that she didn't see Haku grabbing her pillow. Her laughing continued until Haku's pillow impacted on the side of her head so hard she fell out of the bed.

"Oh you asked for it." Naruko said standing up armed with the pillow in her hand.

"Bring it." Haku said unafraid.

That was more than enough encouragement for Naruko and she leaped at Haku brandishing her pillow as a weapon. Haku wasn't fazed and she too leaped forward intent on winning the battle of the pillows. The two of them spent five minutes laughing and yelling while hitting each other with the pillows until Naruko managed to unarm Haku. Naruko was already declaring victory but Haku wasn't about to admit defeat that easily. She tackled Naruko onto the bed and started tickling her until Naruko was begging for mercy.

"Do you yield?" Haku asked threatening to continue.

"Y-Yes, I yield." Naruko said with tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

Haku looked at Naruko and couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl was. Of course she already knew that but seeing her flushed like this made her even more beautiful than ever. She was currently straddling Naruko and had her hands on Naruko's stomach. She smiled at Naruko before she bent down and closed the distance between her and her blonde friend's lips.

Naruko was still laughing after Haku had tickled her until she begged for mercy. When she finally yielded the fight she looked at Haku and smiled at seeing her friend. She truly liked Haku; there was no doubt about that in her mind. But ever since Haku had kissed her in Wave, she had been confused and she didn't know what to think. Then Haku had taken her hand in hers on many occasions and it always make her heart beat faster. She liked the feeling of holding Haku's hand but once more she was confused as she didn't understand why Haku acted like this. Now Haku was leaning closer and she just knew that she wanted to kiss this dark haired angel. Just when their lips were about to meet someone opened the door.

"What are you two doing…?" Anko said coming to check up on them. She froze when she saw Haku and Naruko almost kissing and she cursed herself for interrupting the girls' moment. "Oh carry on."

Of course, now that they were interrupted neither Haku nor Naruko had the nerve to continue and they quickly separated from each other. They looked at each other for a moment before they both blushed like crazy and went to get dressed and have breakfast. Luckily, Yuugao and Anko didn't comment on what had happened and they ate breakfast without any teasing; something they were both very happy about.

"Okay girls, seeing that Haku-chan is still under observation we can't do any missions above D-rank so we'll deal with those quickly before spending the rest of the day on training." Yuugao said after they left the house. "I know, D-rank missions are stupid but Haku-chan here needs them to go on her record."

"I hate D-rank missions." Naruko complained. "You'll see, Haku-chan. They're nothing but chores."

"Yes well, let's hope we don't have any babysitting mission." Yuugao smirked.

"Oh god, anything but that." Naruko said fearing the worst. This lead to Yuugao telling the story of the flying diaper making Haku laugh and Naruko blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh you think that's funny huh?" Naruko said to Haku. "Well, if we get a babysitting mission you're on your own."

* * *

Luckily for Haku (and Naruko) the D-rank mission wasn't babysitting but just a simple cleaning mission. Not that those were any better in Naruko's opinion but Haku didn't seem to mind all that much. Naruko said that was because this was just the first time she had to do one and that soon enough she would hate them as much as she did. Yuugao had a great time seeing the two girls interact and she was happy that Haku had joined their little family. Yuugao was very glad that Naruko had found such a good friend in Haku as it had changed Naruko as well. No longer was she a girl with no friends (expect grownups) and no longer was she distant to those her own age.

"Okay, that's enough you two." Yuugao smiled. "Naruko, you're working on your Taijutsu katas today. I want you to go through all of them and I'll join you later on to spar." Naruko nodded and went to the middle of the training field to begin her exercises. "Haku, you're working on speed and stamina today. I brought you some weights to wear." Yuugao then give her the weight that were worn around the ankles and the wrists. "For now I want you to do laps around the training field so that you get used to wearing them."

While Yuugao was explaining to Haku what she needed to do, Naruko was concentrating on her kata. But today something was different; for the past few months she had been practicing something that would make her Taijutsu even deadlier. Ever since her sensei had taught her the 'Raiton: Dengeki Te no Jutsu' she had been working to incorporate it into her Taijutsu. The 'Raiton: Dengeki Te no Jutsu' was a Jutsu that enveloped your hand in lighting aligned chakra making it possible to shock the opponent. While a very interesting Jutsu Naruko had seen it as something that she could use for her Taijutsu. So for months she had been working on trying to bring out that layer of chakra with having to do the handseals. Also the disadvantage of the 'Raiton: Dengeki Te no Jutsu' was that once you had hit the opponent the chakra disappeared and you would have to start all over again.

Naruko's aim was to have that lighting aligned chakra active all time during her Taijutsu. That way she would not only hurt her opponent by hitting him but also by sending shocks into his body. It was a double attack and she was giddy at the thought of having such a strong Taijutsu. Unfortunately, things weren't that easy. She had struggled in the beginning, mostly because she was too stubborn to ask for help, and it was only last week that she finally managed to get some results. It was highly different than the 'Raiton: Dengeki Te no Jutsu' but that was okay. It was a start and she was sure that in the coming months she would improve on it.

Yuugao was watching Naruko going through her katas when she noticed something. Around Naruko's fists were small lightning bolt like strands erupting from time to time. At first she thought she had imagined it but when she saw it again she couldn't help but wonder what her first student was doing. Deciding that she wanted to know she told Naruko to stop.

"Naruko-chan, correct me if I'm wrong but are you focusing Raiton chakra in your fists?" Yuugao asked nonchalantly.

"Euh yeah, it's something I wanted to try?" Naruko said shyly and she explained what she was trying to do.

"Naru-chan, do you know what you just did?" Yuugao asked amazed.

"Huh?" Naruko said not understanding what the big deal was.

"You just showed me that your capable of Chakra Nature manipulation." Yuugao said hugging the girl proudly.

"I did?" Naruko asked surprised.

"How long are you able to maintain it?" Yuugao asked for more information.

"Well, It takes a lot of concentration and effort to use at the moment but it's getting better and better." Naruko pondered. "Once it's there I can use it without much problems."

"That's amazing. The possibilities are enormous." Yuugao said impressed. "If you could learn to do this instinctively or without having to concentrate so much this could be a devastating Taijutsu."

"That's what I was hoping to achieve." Naruko nodded thinking the same thing.

"Well from now on, I want you to always practice your katas like this." Yuugao said. "It doesn't matter if you have to go slowly at first but try to speed up the process each time until you can do it without trouble."

Naruko nodded and got back to practicing while Yuugao admired the new Taijutsu Naruko had created. She marveled at seeing the bolts of lightning that surrounded Naruko's fists and she thought about how it would feel to get hit by this. She had no doubt that it would be very painful to say the least. She quickly wrote down a few questions she wanted to ask Naruko. She wanted to know just how much chakra she was using and what she wanted the effects to be. Did she want to stun and shock the opponent or was it her intention to just electrocute him? She was giddy at the thought of discussing this with Anko.

* * *

Meanwhile Haku was still running laps around the training ground and she was currently thinking about creating a few techniques of her own. She was pretty proficient with Suiton and Fuuton Jutsu but her lack of Hyouton Jutsu was what worried her. She had never placed much importance on her Kekkei Genkai but she did understand that it was foolish to neglect her abilities like that. Unfortunately, Hyouton Jutsu were very rare and neither Yuugao or Anko knew any. Though a bit disappointed it wouldn't stop her and if she couldn't learn any Hyouton Jutsu then she would create her own. Together with Naruko she had been brainstorming and they had come up with several ideas but so far they hadn't really tried them out.

"Haku-chan, that's enough laps for today." Yuugao called out as she was about to start her fiftieth lap. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired but pretty good." Haku admitted. "These weights are much more tiring than I thought."

"Don't worry about." Yuugao smiled. "You'll get used to them soon enough. So what do you want to do now?"

"Is it okay to work on a Jutsu Naruko and I thought of?" Haku asked.

"Sure what kind of Jutsu is it?" Yuugao wanted to know.

"Well, thanks to my Kekkei Genkai I can manipulate ice and make those mirrors." Haku started her explanation. "So, Naruko asked me if I could make whatever I wanted out of ice and I started to think about it. After trying a bit, I figured out how to make certain shapes and I wanted to try something in honor of Zabuza-sama."

"Show me, please." Yuugao smiled.

Haku nodded and she did a few one-handed handseals before a short piece of ice formed in her hand. Yuugao watched in wonder as the piece of ice grew and grew until it was the size of a Katana. Haku opened her eyes and inspected the icy sword and nodded pleased with it. The sword had the shape of a standard Katana but lacked the tsuba and didn't have a decorated handle either.

"Haku-chan, that's amazing." Yuugao exclaimed loudly.

"Thanks Yuugao-sensei." Haku said smiling. "I wanted to ask you if you could teach me some Kenjutsu. Zabuza-sama never taught me his style but I want to honor him by using a sword as well."

"Do you think that sword is strong enough? No offence to you, Haku-chan." Yuugao asked after thinking a bit.

"None taken. I think that it could withstand several blows on its own as I have never seen anyone break through my Makyou Hyoushou before." Haku said. "But maybe I can channel chakra inside it to make it stronger?"

"Let's try it out shall we?" Yuugao said enthusiastic.

Yuugao took out her sword and asked Haku to block her attacks with hers. The first blow was blocked without any damage to the icy sword but Yuugao hadn't used even a quarter of her strength. The second blow was at half her strength and still no damage was done after blocking the attack. Needless to say Yuugao was already very impressed. The third blow however, at three quarters of Yuugao's full strength managed to crack the blade in half.

"That's actually not bad." Yuugao said. "Why don't you try to channel some chakra into it and then we'll try again."

Haku nodded and created a new blade and focused some chakra inside it. This was fairly easy as her Makyou Hyoushou also needed her to infuse her mirrors with chakra so she didn't have any trouble doing so. Again Yuugao went through her attacks and nothing seemed to harm the blade. Even at full strength Haku's sword stayed undamaged and seemed unbreakable.

"Amazing." Yuugao breathed once more. "Well, I guess that settles it. Haku-chan, starting today I'm teaching you Kenjutsu. But first you must learn how to make your sword as quickly as possible. How much chakra does it consume?"

"It doesn't take much, Yuugao-sensei." Haku told her.

"Good then work on your speed and once you can do it instantly and without having to concentrate too long I'll teach you my style." Yuugao nodded happily. She was so impressed with both her students today that she felt that they deserved a reward later on. Since Haku hadn't been able to go to the onsen before due to her injured leg, Yuugao decided that they would go later that evening.

Just when Yuugao was about to call it quits for the day Anko showed up. Yuugao smiled when her lover grabbed her in a hug and kissed her passionately. Not one to back down Yuugao returned kiss with vigor and only when Naruko cleared her throat did they break off the kiss. Anko glared jokingly at Naruko for interrupting them but Yuugao just started telling what she had been shown that day. Of course Anko need proof of what she had been told but soon enough she too was looking on in amazement at both Naruko and Haku.

"Damn, that's awesome." Anko whistled. She took a closer look at Haku's sword but when she tried to touch it she yelped and quickly let go. "Ouch, that's freezing cold!" she yelled out and true enough the fingers which had touched the blade showed a bit of frostbite.

"Wow, I hadn't thought about that." Yuugao said shocked. "Not only is it nearly indestructible but it also freezes everything it touches."

"Haku-chan is so cool." Naruko said softly making Haku blush at hearing those words.

"Well enough training for today." Yuugao said. "How about we treat ourselves to a visit to the onsen?"

This had several effects. Anko immediately agreed and both Haku and Naruko looked at each other and blushed. The thought of seeing their friend naked was more than enough to make them get bright red but to cover up they quickly shouted their agreement. Of course both Anko and Yuugao had noticed the flushed faces and smirked. When they reached the onsen both Yuugao and Anko saw that the girls were nervous and they decided to help them out a little by separating them so they could talk to them. Yuugao took Haku with her while Anko had Naruko.

"Naru-chan, is something the matter?" Anko asked while washing the girl's back.

"Ne Anko-neechan, can I ask you a question?" Naruko said hesitantly.

"Of course you can, you know that. Now what's the matter?" Anko said hugging the girl.

"How do you know if you like someone?" Naruko asked her.

"Is this about Haku-chan?" Anko asked knowingly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm really confused." Naruko sighed. "I mean, I really like being friends with Haku-chan. She's my best friend and she's really great but…"

"You want to be more than friends?" Anko finished.

"I don't know." Naruko sighed loudly. "Haku-chan kissed me in Wave and it felt really good, you know? And we've held hands several times and I like it."

"Do you think Haku-chan likes you more than just friends?" Anko asked the blonde though she had a good idea on the answer already.

"I think so but I'm not sure. I never felt like this before." Naruko admitted. "I think that she wants to be more than friends because this morning we were having a pillow fight and when I won she tackled me on the bed and then she bent down to kiss me."

"And then I interrupted. I'm sorry Naru-chan, I didn't mean to." Anko apologized.

"It's okay." Naruko smiled at her neechan. "But what do I do now?"

"Well, there are two things you can do." Anko said. "You can either wait until Haku-chan comes to you or you can take the first step and talk to her yourself."

"But what if she doesn't feel the same way?" Naruko asked afraid. "What if she doesn't want to be friends anymore because of that?"

"Naru-chan, do you really think Haku-chan would do that?" Anko asked her. "And about her not feeling the same way, well that's a risk you're going to have to take. That's just the way it works."

"I'm scared." Naruko admitted. "I don't want to lose my friend."

"I understand that Naru-chan but sometimes it's better to take the plunge and get it over with." Anko said knowingly. "Otherwise you'll make yourself sick with wondering and worry. Tell you what, why don't I take Yuu-chan with me so you and Haku can talk?"

"O-Okay, I'll talk to Haku-chan." Naruko said bravely.

"Good, now it's your turn to wash my back." Anko said giving the sponge to Naruko who nodded and started scrubbing.

When she was done Anko and Naruko made their way over to the large bath were Yuugao and Haku were waiting. Naruko blushed bright red as she saw Haku stare at her nude body before turning her head away to look at something else. Anko as promised took Yuugao with her saying that she had something to discuss in private. Yuugao, who didn't know what Anko and Naruko had agreed to wondered what was going on but with a subtle look from Anko she too understood.

Now that it was just the two of them Haku and Naruko sat in silence enjoying the warm water. It felt divine after a hard day of training and Haku couldn't remember the last time she visited an onsen. It was probably that the last time was with her mom when she was still alive and that meant about ten years. Naruko too enjoyed the water but had to resist very hard not to peek at Haku's body but so far she had managed. Deciding that she needed to be brave and just get it over with she turned to Haku.

"H-Haku-chan, can we talk?" Naruko said still trying not to stare.

"Sure, Naru-chan. What do you want to talk about?" Haku smiled.

"Euh, about this morning?" Naruko said while getting bright red. Haku looked up and knew what Naruko wanted to talk about.

"O-oh I'm sorry Naru-chan, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Haku quickly apologized thinking that she had offended her friend.

"No, it's not that." Naruko quickly reassured her. "I just wanted to know if you were going to k-kiss me?"

"Euh, y-yeah I wanted to k-kiss you." Haku admitted while staring down at the water. "Does that bother you?"

"N-no I wanted you to kiss me but I'm not sure if you felt that way for me." Naruko softly said. "I mean, I really like you Haku-chan and I love it when we hold hands and all but why did you want to kiss me?"

"Oh Naru-chan, that's easy." Haku said sitting a bit closer but still not touching. "I like you. I like your laugh, your smile, your beautiful blonde hair that sticks up in the morning." Here Haku giggled a bit. "I like spending time with you and you're my best friend. I think I'm falling in love with you and I would love to be more than friends but only if you feel the same way."

"I think I would like that to but I'm scared." Naruko admitted. "I don't know what to do. I've never had a girlfriend before."

"Neither have I, Naru-chan but I think that if we take it slow then we'll be alright." Haku said grabbing Naruko's hand and squeezing it gently.

"I'd like that." Naruko said glad that Haku felt the same way. "So, does this mean I can kiss you?"

"You can kiss me anytime and anywhere you want, Naru-chan." Haku smiled blushing at the thought of Naruko kissing her.

"Good cause I really want to kiss you right now." Naruko smiled and she leaned closer to Haku. She pressed her lips gently to Haku's who eagerly kissed back. Naruko enjoyed feeling Haku's lips on hers and made a silent promise to kiss her anytime she felt like it. The kiss was a bit clumsy but they both liked it immensely. They kissed for about a minute before they separated to get some air and they both had a goofy grin on their faces.

"Well, well it seems like things worked out pretty well for the two of you." Anko's voice said from behind them.

"I'm so glad for you both." Yuugao said smiling and she made her way over to hug both girls. "You two are perfect for each other. But promise me that you'll take it slow and won't rush into things."

"Don't worry Yuugao-neechan. Naru-chan and I decided that we would take it one step at a time." Haku said still holding Naruko's hand.

"I'm glad to hear that and remember if you have any questions, you can always come to us." Yuugao nodded happily.

The rest of the time in the onsen they talked about Naruko's and Haku's new techniques and how they would be able to use them. Anko had a very good feeling about Naruko's Raiton Taijutsu and she urged Naruko to keep working on it. Yuugao, on the other hand was looking forward to teaching Haku her Kenjutsu style and she told her that starting tomorrow they would practicing with a wooden sword so Haku could learn the katas and they could have a few sparring sessions as well.

When they got home Yuugao and Anko excused themselves so they could have some quality time together which of course made both Haku and Naruko blush. The two girls continued to talk a bit more about new ideas for techniques and decided to go to bed early as they knew that Yuugao would put them through the wringer the next day. When they laid down in bed Naruko, in a sudden bold move kissed Haku straight on the lips wishing her a good night. Haku eagerly returned the kiss and wished her the same. Both girls went to sleep with a massive grin on their face, dreaming of the other girl that was sleeping only a few feet away.

* * *

Yosh, that's it for this chapter. How was it? I know the pillow fight thing is just about any guy's fantasy, and those who say they have never imagined it are lying. I hope you like Naruko's and Haku's new techniques. Was the way they got together believable? Let me know and see you guys in two weeks for the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own Naruto.

Hello and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. Already twelve chapters, time goes fast doesn't it. Not much to say so let's just move on to the chapter. Let me know how it was.

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Konoha in trouble?

It had been little over one month since Haku had joined the team and now Haku's probation was finally finished as well. This meant several things. One was that they could get higher missions than D-rank and that was something everyone on the team was happy about. Naruko hadn't been kidding when she said that D-rank were nothing more than chores. Secondly Naruko had pleaded with the Sandaime to let Haku into the secret of her parentage and her status as a Jinchuuriki. The Sandaime had been against it at first but realized that it was only a matter of time before Haku would start connecting the dots. Naruko had told him that she had already noticed that there were people in Konoha who had a large dislike of her and she had grilled the blonde several times already.

Naruko knew she wanted to tell Haku about her secrets but she also knew that she wasn't allowed to do without speaking to the Sandaime first. When she had told Haku that, the girl accepted that but she still asked that Naruko seek permission. Naruko had agreed reluctantly as she feared that Haku was going to leave her after she found out about the Kyuubi but in the end she agreed that Haku had the right to know if they were going to make this relationship work.

Thus the day that Haku's probation was over Naruko told her everything. She told about who her parents were and the Kyuubi all while stressing that this was a S-ranked secret and that any transgression what so ever is punishable by death. Haku had been shocked to hear that Naruko's father was a Hokage and that he would seal the Kyuubi into his own child. Naruko reassured her that she held no grudge against her father saying that she considered it a mission from her parents. When Naruko had asked if Haku still wanted to be together, Haku had tackled the girl before kissing her passionately. Ever since that day the two girl had even gotten closer.

"Come on girls, time to get a mission." Yuugao yelled from the kitchen. "I want to get there first before all the good ones are taken."

"Coming!" both Naruko and Haku yelled from the bedroom.

"Oho Haku-chan, you changed in a skirt as well?" Yuugao said when she saw Haku's new outfit. It now resembled Naruko's completely.

"Yep, Naru-chan said that I shouldn't hide my, and I quote 'sexy legs'." Haku smiled while Naruko blushed.

"Haku-chan!?" She yelled out embarrassed.

Yuugao just laughed at seeing the two girls' friendly bickering and lead them to the Hokage tower. It was still pretty early so there wasn't much activity in the tower just yet. Except from the ANBU guards and the Hokage nobody was there yet. They went straight to the desk were the Hokage was checking some mission scrolls. He looked and smiled when he recognized the three kunoichi.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." Yuugao greeted her leader while Haku and Naruko smiled at the man.

"Good morning, you three. I trust you're all in good form?" the Sandaime smiled.

"We're fine Ji-chan." Naruko answered. "I'm close to mastering my new Taijutsu style and Haku is getting better and better in her Kenjutsu training."

"Oh, that's good to hear. I'm looking forward to see you in action some time." Sandaime said impressed.

"Hokage-sama, are there any C-rank missions available for us?" Yuugao asked. She was hoping to get some action after all those D-ranks.

"I'm sorry Yuugao but at the moment I have no missions for you and your team." The Sandaime admitted. Seeing that they were disappointed he ruffled through some scrolls and smiled. "However, I can give you a one week border patrol as an extra experience."

"Border patrol?" Naruko asked interested.

"Yes, border patrol is vital to our village." Sandaime explained. "It prevents that another shinobi nations try to invade us and is also very important for security. We need to know who enters our vicinity. As you might have guessed border patrol has little to do with the actual borders of Hi no Kuni. Those borders are guarded by the Daimyo's army but in our case we have several guard posts that surround Konoha from a distance."

"So if someone passes those posts, we know it." Haku added already familiar with the concept.

"Quite right, Haku-chan. This way we can capture any Missing-Nin or prepare ourselves in case of an attack." Sandaime nodded. "Of course, we're not expecting an attack any time soon but you never know. Usually, it's the duty of a team of Chuunin to take care of this but since all the teams are preparing for an important event I'm willing to let you take care of this."

"Important event? What's that event?" Naruko wanted to know. "Come on, tell me."

"I'm sorry, Naruko-chan but you'll find out in a few weeks." Sandaime smiled at how curious his adopted granddaughter could be. "So, do you accept? This will be a joint-assignment with another team."

"We accept Hokage-sama." Yuugao said after checking with the girls.

"Excellent, I'll tell the other team to meet you at the front gates in two hours." Sandaime beamed. "The assignment will take five days and then a new team will relieve you of your duties there."

Yuugao ordered the two girls to go pack for a week long assignment while she went to see Anko to inform her. She knew Anko didn't like to come home and read it in a note so she always made sure to go and tell her if they had a long term mission. Haku and Naruko didn't need much time to pack as they had storage scrolls ready for this kind of situation. Once they were packed they waited for Yuugao to join them and they went to the front gate to wait for the other team. Seeing there was still a half hour before they agreed time they sat down and talked a bit. Suddenly, Naruko saw someone coming their way and she cursed loudly.

"Please don't tell me she's coming." Naruko growled. Haku turned to see what Naruko was talking about and saw a girl heading their way. She winced as she recognized the girl as Haruno Sakura; Naruko had told her all about this girl and she too didn't look forward to work with her.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura said glaring at Naruko.

"The same thing you're doing Haruno; waiting for the other team to arrive." Naruko glared back.

"You're the other team that will do the border patrol?" Sakura asked surprised. "Oh that's just great. Spending a whole week with you will be so much fun." She added sarcastically.

"The pleasure is all mine." Naruko said coldly.

"Who are you?" Sakura said looking at Haku. "I've never seen you before. Were you at the academy?"

"My name is Haku and no, we haven't met before." Haku said politely. "I only joined this village one month ago and…."

Sakura didn't listen any further as the object of her fantasies had just arrived wearing his customary outfit of blue shirt and white pants. As soon as she saw him she dropped her conversation with Haku and went to talk to Sasuke.

"How rude." Haku just said a bit mad that the girl would ignore her like that.

"That's just the way it goes with fan girls, Haku-chan." Naruko informed her. "Remember, I told you about her and the Yamanaka before didn't I?"

"Yes but I didn't think it would be this bad." Haku admitted. "She could have at least excused herself."

Soon Team 7's third Genin, Tsuyoshi Matsuda arrived as well and the only one they were still waiting for was Hatake Kakashi. Yuugao however knew all about the man's tendency to be late and she told the Genin to wait there while she went to look for him. It wasn't difficult to know where she would find him so she went straight to the moment of the fallen heroes and sure enough Kakashi stood there staring that the names on the stone.

"Thought you might be here." Yuugao said to him. "It's time to go."

"Yeah I know, but every time I come here I find myself staying longer than I intended." Kakashi said still looking at the stone. "So many of our friends and family…."

"I know. Yet I don't let myself get carried away; I mourn them every day but I refuse to let it control my life." Yuugao said knowing he would understand what she meant.

"I try you know, still it's not that easy." Kakashi nodded.

"Come on, let's go and don't read that stupid book of yours when Naruko is around." Yuugao warned him. "You know she detests perverts."

"Yeah, Hokage-sama explicitly forbade be to read it around her." Kakashi said. "I wasn't planning on reading it. I know what happened years ago."

"Thanks; you'll see, she'll respect you more for it." Yuugao smiled and they both used 'Shunshin No Jutsu' and disappeared from the clearing.

When the two Jounin arrived at the front gate they noticed how both teams had separated from each other. Team 7 stood a few meters away from Haku and Naruko with Sakura nagging Sasuke's ears off and Tsuyoshi had a look on his face that spoke images of how much he looked forward to this assignment. Naruko and Haku were staring at Sakura wondering how a girl could fall that low. Yuugao called them all together and explained that they would leave in a few minutes. She hoped to arrive at the guard post early in the afternoon so they had better get a move on. After they took a formation with Team Yuugao in front and Team 8 following they started running.

* * *

So far the trip to the guard post had been running smoothly and they had made some good headway. They had been traveling for about three hours now and it became clear that the Genin needed some rest to recuperate after running for so long. Yuugao checked the condition for each Genin and was pleased that while getting tired Naruko and Haku were still holding on nicely. When she looked at Team 7 however she noticed how Sakura and Tsuyoshi started getting behind while Sasuke was breathing heavily.

"Kakashi, I think it's time we took a little breather." Yuugao said alerting him. Kakashi nodded in agreement and they stopped a few minutes later when they reached a small river where they could rest a bit.

Naruko and Haku sat down together not wanting to be too close to the heavily breathing and wheezing Sakura, who just dropped down. They stiffed a giggle at the way the pink-haired girl sat there; her face red from exhausting and her muscles sore from the long trip. They looked at Sasuke and saw while he was breathing deeply it was obvious that he still had something left in his reserves. Tsuyoshi, was much like Sakura and desperately tried to catch his breath. Naruko and Haku weren't the only ones who were checking the Genin; Yuugao and Kakashi did so as well.

"I can tell you trained Naruko and Haku pretty well." Kakashi admitted. "Their stamina and reserves are very impressive."

"Thanks but I didn't do much but improve their already present abilities." Yuugao thanked him. "What's the deal with Sakura and Tsuyoshi?"

"Basically, Sakura is a fangirl and Tsuyoshi, while trying his very best isn't made for this line of work." Kakashi admitted. "Don't get me wrong, they're both talented enough to be good shinobi or at least adequate but Sakura refuses to do any training outside team training. She's more focused on her fairy tale fantasies where Sasuke will save her when she's in trouble. I tried everything to get her to understand that things don't work like that in real life. I had hoped that the mission in Wave might have changed her but unfortunately I was naïve. Tsuyoshi on the other hand, is more suited for interrogation and stuff like that. He's really smart when it comes to analyzing people and he has a talent for spotting when someone lies." He finished.

"Sounds like you could use some help." Yuugao said. "If you want I can ask Anko if she's willing to teach Tsuyoshi some stuff. If he's as talented like you say, Ibiki might be interested in him. I know for a fact that they could always use a good interrogator."

"I would appreciate that, Yuugao." Kakashi smiled. "I thought of asking Ibiki that as well but I haven't been able to catch him yet."

"As for Sakura, have you tried shock therapy?" Yuugao suggested.

"You mean like Kurenai did with Hinata?" Kakashi asked in return. "I thought about it but the problem with my team is that their teamwork is nothing like that of Team 8. If I did use that option I risk destroying whatever bit of teamwork they have. Also I might crush Sakura's spirit completely."

"I'll tell you the same thing Naruko said to Kurenai when she objected as well." Yuugao smiled. "Either she steps up or she steps down. Kakashi, you're a gifted shinobi and I'm sure you did your best with her but sometimes you have to take drastic measures. If she doesn't shape up she'll get killed sooner or later and I know you don't want that."

"Of course not." Kakashi said hotly. He liked his Genin, no matter how they did.

"Well, then isn't it better that she quits and lives then to keep going and getting killed in the line of duty?" Yuugao gently added.

"I guess so but I'm not willing to give up just yet." Kakashi agreed.

"If you want, I had planned to give my girls some training during this mission. I can include Sakura if that's okay with you?" Yuugao suggested. "Maybe if she sees how far behind she is, she might change her ways."

"Really? You wouldn't mind? I mean, it's obvious that Naruko and Sakura don't get along." Kakashi said surprised.

"Don't worry about that; I'll deal with Naruko." Yuugao smiled. "Besides, Naruko doesn't really hate Sakura; she only dislikes her because she's a fangirl and gives kunoichi a bit of a bad name."

Kakashi, seeing that nothing that he did helped his student, agreed to let Yuugao take care of Sakura during the mission. It could turn out to be a good experience for the girl and maybe, just maybe it would affect her enough to shape up. Yuugao and Kakashi saw that their students were rested enough so they ordered them to get ready so they could move out again. Soon after getting ready, the Konoha shinobi were once more jumping through trees at high speed. It took them another three hours to reach the guard post and when they arrived the Genin were giving instructions.

"Alright listen up." Kakashi said. "For the next seven days we'll be guarding this place and take note of any suspicious actions or people. We'll work in shifts as this kind of mission can get boring after some time." He remembered how he felt about this kind of duty. "Starting tomorrow, Sakura will join Yuugao and her team. They will take the morning shift while the guys will train. Then in the afternoon we'll switch. Each day will be divided into guard duty and training."

"Kakashi-sensei, why do I have to join Yuugao-sensei's team?" Sakura whined. "I want to stay with Sasuke-kun."

"That's enough whining, little girl." Yuugao said sternly. "You'll join us and like it. That's an order from your Jounin sensei and last time I looked it is us who make the decisions."

Sakura gulped at seeing Yuugao glare at her and knew that she would regret accepting this mission in the first place. After getting their instructions the Genin were ordered to unpack and then report back to them for further instructions. The guard post was actually pretty big; it was a large building with several guard towers and a large open space that could be used for training. There were two teams currently placed at the guard post and one team was being relieved by Team 7 and Team Yuugao and would leave first thing in the morning as it was too late to leave now. While they would stay the night, they weren't on duty unless needed and thus most of them looked forward to a night of some fun and games. When the Genin had returned Kakashi explained that they would be helping the other team by guarding until about midnight and then they would take over so that the Genin could get some rest.

* * *

The next morning Yuugao entered the girls' room and woke them up for morning training. Naruko and Haku, who were used to getting up early, didn't complain and quickly got ready but Sakura complained loudly and Yuugao dragged her out of bed and ordered her to get ready or else she would be charged with insubordination. That threat was enough to get Sakura moving and she quickly joined the two other girls.

"Alright girls, since we have limited space for training, we'll focus on stamina and strength training this week." Yuugao explained. "The two of you know what to do while I explain the exercises to Sakura here." Yuugao said to Naruko and Haku who promptly started running laps around the open space. "Okay Sakura, I don't know what exercises Kakashi made you do but my training is strict and hard. For starters I want you to run laps until I tell you to stop. I don't care if you're tired or if your muscles hurt but you won't stop until I tell you to, is that clear?"

"H-Hai Yuugao-sensei." Sakura nodded not wanting to get another scolding from the scary kunoichi.

"You don't have to worry about catching up with Naruko or Haku but I want you to give it your best." Yuugao said. "Once your laps are done, we'll move on to the next exercise."

Sakura gulped and started on her laps while maintaining a certain speed. She wanted to conserve some energy for later on and thus opted to run a bit slower. Yuugao however noticed this immediately and ordered her to pick up the pace a bit. Sakura did as she was told but silently cursed Yuugao already. She looked at the two other girls running the same laps and fumed as they passed her several times. It didn't take very long for Sakura to get tired and soon she started slowing down again. Her chest and sides hurt from the constant running and she was breathing so deeply that they probably could hear her from outside the guard post.

"Come on Sakura, only ten more laps and you're done." Yuugao yelled out trying to encourage the pink-haired girl. "You can do this."

Haku and Naruko had already finished their laps and started on doing the rest of their exercises. They were now doing sit-ups and push-ups while sticking to the walls. This was a great exercise as it trained them psychically and improved their chakra control a bit as well.

"Good job, Sakura." Yuugao congratulated the girl who had just finished her laps. "Take a five minute break and catch your breath."

"T-T-This is i-insane." Sakura wheezed loudly. She had never run that long before and it felt like her legs were on fire.

"Insane? Naruko and Haku have been doing this for months." Yuugao said raising an eyebrow. She didn't mention the weights however as she didn't want to crush the girl's confidence right away. "Okay, enough resting; next is that exercise." And she pointed to the wall where her two official students were currently exercising. "This will strengthen your body and increase you chakra reserves. Again, you don't stop until I tell you to. Now get moving."

By the time noon came around Sakura was dead on her feet. Never before had she felt this exhausted and every muscle in her body was hurting. Yuugao had been relentless and had pushed her to her limits and far beyond that.

'This is insane; if I have to train like that for the rest of the week then I'm a goner.' Sakura thought. 'Shannaro, what did I do to deserve this?'

She heard the voices of Naruko and Haku in the girls' room and she dragged herself towards it so she could get some rest before they would relieve the guys from guarding duty. To her surprise the two girls were happily chatting away, seeming unaffected by all the exercising they had done that morning. Sakura walked in and just let herself drop on the makeshift bed, groaning loudly as her muscles protested painfully.

"Are you okay, Sakura-san?" Haku asked half concerned, half sarcastically.

"No." Sakura just answered. "Your sensei is a slave driver. How am I supposed to survive this week?"

"Well, if you had taken your training seriously before like any self-respecting kunoichi does then you wouldn't have these problems." Naruko said hotly. "But no, you and the others just chased the Uchiha instead of training."

"Hey, I trained every day." Sakura defended herself.

"Really? How many hours did you train once the academy classes were over? Naruko asked her. "How many hours a day do you practice outside of team training?"

"Euh, well I, I don't know okay?" Sakura said angry at the blond.

"Girls like you disgust me." Naruko said before walking out the room. "You have no idea what it means to be a real kunoichi." Haku quickly followed after Naruko.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura yelled after her.

"It means that your image of the shinobi world is naïve, Sakura." Yuugao said from the door. She had been listening closely to the girls and she thought it was time to educate Sakura a bit. "You think that Sasuke or Kakashi will be able to save you each and every time you're in trouble? Do you know what happens to kunoichi when they get caught?"

"They get killed?" Sakura answered weakly.

"Yes, eventually they do get killed." Yuugao nodded. "But that's only after they get raped and used for personal pleasure by their captors. Kunoichi face this danger on every mission and it happens more than I would like to admit. That's why kunoichi have to train very hard to make sure that they never get put in such a situation. What would happen if your team gets killed or hurt and you're the only one to help them and you're too weak to help them. You have to realize, Sakura that being a kunoichi or shinobi isn't a laughing matter. It's a hard world full of dangers and your fantasies about being saved by your prince on the white horse will only get you killed." When Yuugao finished she told Sakura that she had an hour to rest and then they would relieve the guys.

Sakura sat on her bed shocked and somewhat angry. Oh, she wasn't just angry at Yuugao or Naruko but also at herself. For a moment, when Yuugao asked if she was strong enough to defend her teammates, she knew instantly that she wasn't. She wasn't strong enough to protect those she loved and that hurt her pride more than anything. She wasn't willing to admit total defeat to Naruko, but she realized that she had to shape up.

'We'll see if I'm a real kunoichi or not.' Sakura thought. 'Shannaro, that bitch is going to get it.'

* * *

It was halfway through the week long mission that something finally happened. Naruko and Haku were part of the night shift and were standing guard hoping that something might happen. The past few days nothing had happened and they were starting to get bored out of their minds. Naruko was guarding the east side when all of the sudden she noticed someone sneaking past the guard post and to her shock she had recognized the shinobi. It was Mizuki from the academy.

'What is he doing here? And why is he sneaking past the guard post?' Naruko thought. 'Something's not right.' She quickly made a Kage Bunshin and send it to alert Yuugao who was currently enjoying a rest before her turn to guard came up.

"Yuugao-sensei, wake up." The clone said shaking the sleeping Yuugao.

"Naru-chan, is it my shift already?" Yuugao said sleepily.

"No, the boss send me to warn you that she saw Mizuki sneak past the guard post." The clone quickly explained.

"Mizuki? What is he doing here?" Yuugao said shocked. "Where did he go?" While she quickly went to join the real Naruko.

"He went east." The clone answered.

"Naruko, stay here and don't tell anyone." Yuugao said when she reached the real Naruko. "I'm going to follow him and see what this is about."

"Okay, Yuugao-neechan be careful." Naruko nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Yuugao assured her before jumping over the banister and went in pursuit of Mizuki.

It didn't take long for Yuugao to find Mizuki's trail and she quickly gained up on him but stayed out of range so he wouldn't notice her. She followed him for about half an hour and already she was getting more suspicious by the minute. It was obvious to her that Mizuki knew where he was going as he didn't slow down or hesitate to find his way. When he finally stopped she saw two other men waiting for him and she sneaked closer so she could hear what they were saying and maybe get a good look at the others.

"You're late." One said to Mizuki.

"It's not that easy to get past the guard posts you know." Mizuki sneered. "Luckily I heard that there were only a few Genin and a team of Chuunin there to guard the place."

"Whatever; are you sure you weren't followed?" the second one said looking around making sure nobody could over hear them.

"Of course I'm sure. Who do you take me for?" Mizuki rolled his eyes.

'Idiot, you were noticed by a Genin.' Yuugao thought. 'a very talented Genin but a Genin nonetheless.' She then got a good look when the light of the moon lightened up the clearing they were gathering in. She didn't recognize the two men but she noticed that one of them had a headband of Suna and the other one sported one with a musical note on it. She hadn't seen anyone with that headband before so she gathered that it must be a new village.

"Let's hurry up. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary." The one with the Suna headband said.

"Fine, here are your orders from Orochimaru-sama." The third one said. "Make sure you don't fail him or else…."

"Don't worry; I'll get him everything he wants as long as he keeps his promise." Mizuki snapped.

"Of course, you'll be rewarded greatly for your part." The man nodded. "How about Suna? Is everything going okay there?"

"We're ready to hit Konoha whenever Orochimaru wants." The Suna shinobi grunted. "The Kazekage is most anxious to wipe Konoha off the map."

"Tell him that Orochimaru-sama needs him to wait." The man said. "Orochimaru-sama has chosen to launch the attack at the final round of the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Konoha will be too distracted by caring for the nobles and higher up's and it will a fitting end for those tree-lovers."

"So, what's next?" Mizuki asked.

"You go back to Konoha and ask like nothing is amiss. You know your assignment and it's of utmost importance that you succeed." Orochimaru's shinobi said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll deal with those pesky academy students once I dealt with my fellow teachers." Mizuki smiled.

"Very well, there will be no further communication between us until the day of the third part of the exams." The third man said. "Do not try to contact the others unless the invasion is compromised. We do not want to alert Konoha by mistake."

"Understood." The two others said and they each went their separate way.

Yuugao's head was spinning from everything she had heard here. By mere coincidence Naruko had managed to catch Mizuki sneaking past the guard post and now she had uncovered a plot against Konoha. An attack was coming and if it wasn't for Naruko's quick actions they wouldn't have known about until it was too late. The consequences were staggering and she knew she had to alert the Hokage as quickly as possible. She raced back to the guard past and called Naruko and Haku to her.

"Girls, I just uncovered a major threat against Konoha." Yuugao told them. "Don't tell anyone what you saw tonight. Naruko, I need you to summon Gamakichi; I need to alert Hokage-sama." Yuugao said while quickly writing what she had witnessed down on a scroll. When she was done she gave the scroll to Gamakichi. "Gamakichi, I need you to bring this scroll the Sandaime Hokage; it's extremely important and for his eyes only. Tell him it's of the utmost importance to the safety of Konoha."

"You got it, Neechan." Gamakichi said.

"Thanks, I'll get you a bag of sweets as reward." Yuugao smiled at the little toad and she watched him disappear into the night.

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage was having the best dream of his entire life. He was surrounded by beautiful women in skimpy clothes and the best part was that they were doing his paperwork for him while he could enjoy the greatness that was 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Ah bless Jiraiya's wooden geta's; the man surely had talent for writing these smutty novels. He was rudely awakened however when something fell on his stomach knocking the air out of him.

"Yo, Hokage-Jiji." Gamakichi said.

"Gamakichi? What are you doing here at this time of night?" Sandaime said after turning on the light.

"Got a message for you from Naru-neechan's teacher." Gamakichi answered and he coughed up the scroll.

"Thank you Gamakichi, please wait in case I need to write something back." The Sandaime said before opening the scroll. His face hardened when he read the scroll and if he wasn't so old and behaved he would have cursed for a few hours. 'This is bad. Orochimaru, you finally decided to attack your old village. I have failed you, my student but no more. I'll show you why I'm called the 'God of Shinobi'. You won't get away with this.'

The Sandaime quickly wrote a reply for Yuugao and her team and gave the scroll to the little toad asking him to deliver it as soon as possible. The toad swallowed the scroll and jumped out of the window. Meanwhile Sarutobi was already thinking about how Konoha would deal with this attack. While he had always expected Orochimaru to attack Konoha, the fact that Suna was involved as well worried him greatly. Dealing with Orochimaru and whatever troops he had would be hard enough as it is but dealing with two villages joining up together just made the whole thing that much worse.

"It seems that Konoha will once more have to do battle." He said while staring at the village that was unaware of the coming hardships.

* * *

That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know. The Chuunin exams will happen but after that things will divert from canon for a while. I have yet to decide if I will use the movies in this story but it might be a good way to add to the story. If any ideas let me know. See you all later.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own Naruto.

Hi all and welcome back to the new chapter of this story. Hope everyone had a good two weeks and in good health. I'm doing fine and I'm working on all of my stories. That's right, I've started writing on my other Naruto story again. It's going slow but at least I'm writing again. I'm going to work on a few chapters ahead so don't expect any chapters just yet. I promise to start posting again as soon as I have a few chapters ready.

Enjoy the chapter and let me know how you feel about it.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Promotion and plans

When Yuugao read the scroll with the orders to stay put and keep the information of the attack between them she told her students once more what had happened and how they were to proceed. Under no circumstance were they to tell anyone what they had learned. As of now the information was deemed a S-class secret and they were to act accordingly. Naruko and Haku didn't need to be told twice what this meant and they vowed to keep quiet.

"Girls, we'll have to up training." Yuugao said. "Naruko, how far are you with your Taijutsu?"

"I'm getting very proficient at it." Naruko said proudly. "I can now use the Raiton chakra without having to concentrate for more than two seconds. Also I'm getting better at controlling the amount of chakra I want to use."

"Excellent; Haku, where are you on any new jutsu?" Yuugao turned to Haku.

"Well, Naru-chan and I have come up with a few ideas but we only started working on one." Haku explained. "It is mostly for recon and maybe assassinations. Let me show you." Haku said after looking around making sure Sakura couldn't see them. There was no danger however as the pink haired girl was standing with her back turned at them unaware what was going on. Haku then concentrated and did a few handseals and Yuugao saw a small mirror made of ice appeared in front of her and one behind Naruko's head. She looked on in amazement when Haku put her arm in front of her and it disappeared into the mirror, only to reappear out of the mirror behind Naruko.

"That's u-unbelievable, Haku-chan." Yuugao said very impressed.

"Unfortunately, it's not yet complete." Haku said after dissolving the mirrors. "I still need to be really close to the target. I have made some progress though and I hope that in a few weeks I might be able to do the technique from a greater distance."

"Okay, as soon as we get back to Konoha we'll focus on those techniques." Yuugao nodded. "I'll talk with the Hokage to get some time off from mission to focus on this. I have a feeling we'll need the two of you to defend Konoha."

"Don't worry, Yuugao-sensei. Haku-chan and I have a few tricks up our sleeves that we can use." Naruko grinned. "They'll regret messing with us, won't they Haku-chan?"

"You bet, we'll show them what Kunoichi of Konoha are capable of." Haku agreed.

"Very well, we have two months before the Chuunin Exam starts and three months until the attack." Yuugao mused. "I guess it's time we double those weights in order for you two to get strong enough."

Here the two girls gulped at seeing Yuugao's face, knowing that she would come up with a training schedule that made the previous one look like a pleasure trip. Yuugao laughed at seeing their reactions and told them to get ready because training would start the very next day and she wouldn't go easy on them. She then told them to wake the others as it was almost time to change shifts. Naruko and Haku nodded and went to get some rest knowing that they would be put through the wringer the next morning.

* * *

Their fears had been correct as Yuugao had more than doubled the amount of exercises they had to do. On top of that she had, discreetly of course, doubled their weights as well making Naruko and Haku puff and groan loudly during laps. Sakura, who had been showing slight improvement, was also forced to do more exercises but not the extend of the others. Naruko and Haku were surprised however that she didn't complain once. Maybe she had started to use her brain after all.

Kakashi was very proud of Sakura and had told her more than once. Yuugao had asked him to make sure that he showed that he was aware of her efforts. This would not only increase her confidence but she would also be grateful for the praise. Even Sasuke had seen that Sakura started to train a bit more serious and while he hadn't congratulated her or even commented on it, he was pleased because now she might leave him alone.

Speaking of Sasuke, Yuugao had noticed that the boy was very obsessed with getting stronger. When she had been on guard duty she had observed Kakashi's training sequence and she was surprised at how Sasuke wanted to learn powerful jutsu instead of working his way up. She had witnessed him throwing a small temper tantrum when Kakashi refused to teach him a B-rank Katon jutsu. One other thing that she had noticed was that he kept his Sharingan active for as long as he could. She was glad that Naruko and Haku were smart enough not to show any of their skills so he couldn't just copy them.

It wasn't that Sasuke was a bad kid but he was so anti-social and moody. Even when they all had some time off, he stayed on his own, refusing to mingle with them. When he was asked something, he simple grunted a short reply and walked away. Yuugao wondered how Kakashi was dealing with such an anti-social student knowing that Kakashi's pet peeve was teamwork. The third member of Team 7, Tsuyoshi, was a different story. He was a polite boy but she could see that he was a calculating person, one who stayed in the shadows while observing the people around him. She had talked quite a bit with him and she told him that if he was interested, she would talk with someone of the Torture and Interrogation Department so he could learn from them. The boy had expressed his interest and Yuugao promised to let him know as soon as she came up with something.

* * *

When the week was finally over the two teams hurried back and after a few hours of high speed traveling they finally reached Konoha. Team 7 was dismissed as Yuugao had offered to give the report to the Hokage herself. The Genin didn't complain and neither did Kakashi as he had some reading to do. A whole week of barely reading his favorite book almost had him going into remission. Yuugao and her students went straight to the Hokage tower and entered the Hokage's office.

"Team Yuugao reporting back, sir." Yuugao said.

"Ah good to see you but where is Team 7?" The Sandaime said tiredly.

"I offered to give you the report for both teams, sir." Yuugao said. " I reckoned that you would want to talk about what we discovered in private."

"Yes, yes quite right." The Sandaime said lighting his pipe. "The report of the mission can be filled later on. For now tell me everything that you discovered. Don't leave anything out." Yuugao nodded and started talking about the night Mizuki had met up with the shinobi of Suna and the unknown village. When she finished taking the Sandaime was still puffing away on his pipe.

"Excellent work, you three." He finally said. "Naruko, thanks to your vigilance and attentiveness we have become aware of this attack. Konoha owes you a great debt, once more."

"Don't mention it, ji-chan." Naruko smiled. "Anyone would have done the same."

"I'm not so sure, Naru-chan." Sarutobi sighed. "The fact that a traitor such as Mizuki has been undetected for so long bothers me greatly. Who knows how many spies Orochimaru has?"

"What is the plan, Hokage-sama?" Yuugao asked.

"Tonight I will address the issue with my advisors and those I trust the most." Sandaime said. "I want you three to be present as well. However, I already have contacted Jiraiya in the hope he might uncover some more information about this new village and its ties to Orochimaru. He should get back to us in the next few days. Also, I wanted the two of you to receive this." And with that he threw two Chuunin flak jackets at Naruko and Haku.

"Ji-chan, does this mean that…" Naruko started.

"Yes, as of now the you two are promoted to the rank of Chuunin." Sandaime smiled. "Before you ask, let me explain. You see, I need a team that I can trust without a doubt and while there are many that fit that bill, I also need those people somewhere else. The two of you are more than strong enough and your mission records prove this. Out of all the new teams in Konoha, you and Haku-chan have done the most missions."

"But what about the Chuunin exam?" Haku asked surprised. "Don't you normally have to pass that to get promoted to Chuunin?"

"Ah yes, the exam is indeed the most known way to get promoted." Sandaime nodded. "But it's not the only way; it's just that the other way hasn't been used since the end of the war. As Hokage, I can appoint those worthy, judged by myself and by their records, to Chuunin under the guise of preparation of war. And make no mistake, this is war."

"Thanks Ji-chan, we won't let you down." Naruko said before rushing over the Sandaime and giving him a big hug.

"I'm sure you won't Naruko-chan." Sandaime said hugging the girl back. "Now, as a Chuunin you have a few responsibilities but for now you'll have to act as if you were still a Genin. At least until the third task of the Chuunin exams. In the meanwhile, I have a special mission for you two but it will have to wait until Jiraiya gets here."

"What kind of mission?" Haku asked interested.

"Orochimaru was one of my students and it's my responsibility to stop him from harming this village." The Sandaime said. "Unfortunately, there will always be casualties when it comes to war. We need the help of my other two students and while Jiraiya will be here, I'm afraid Tsunade won't be that easy to convince."

"But I thought that Tsunade-sama hated Konoha?" Naruko asked.

"She does have some animosity towards this village but I know that deep inside the love for her village still exists." The Sandaime said sadly. "She's lost in her grief and while I have been lenient towards her feelings until now, we need her help and medical knowledge. Unfortunately, I fear that she won't listen when I summon her and that's where you girls come in. You two will accompany Jiraiya and look for her so you can convince her to come back."

"How do we do that?" Naruko asked perplexed.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." Sandaime smiled. "Don't worry about it for now. Go get some rest and be back here tonight at nine. Yuugao, I need you to alert those on this list."

"I'll get right to it, Hokage-sama." Yuugao nodded and the three left the office.

* * *

Once they were outside Yuugao told Naruko and Haku that they could enjoy the rest of the day however they felt like it and Naruko proposed that they would meet up at the onsen later on. After a week of crappy showers and quickly washing up, they had deserved to relax a bit before going to the meeting later that night. Yuugao happily agreed and told them that she and Anko would catch up with them. Naruko and Haku quickly went home to deposit their stuff and change into some comfortable clothes. When they got home however Haku quickly grabbed Naruko and started kissing her fiercely. Naruko, while surprised the first few seconds, eagerly returned the kiss as they had precious few moments together over the past week.

"I missed kissing you." Haku admitted shyly when they finally broke the kiss.

"Me too." Naruko smiled and gave her another kiss. "Come on, let's go to onsen and relax."

"Oh, I get it. You just want to see me naked again." Haku teased. "Naughty Naru-chan, I didn't know you wanted to see me that badly?"

"W-What? T-that's not it." Naruko stuttered while getting bright red.

"Really? You don't want to see me naked?" Haku said pouting a bit.

"Yes. No, I mean no. I didn't mean it like that." Naruko stammered.

"Then you do want to see me naked?" Haku smiled again. "Naru-chan is such a pervert."

"Hey, now wait a minute. Maybe you want to see me naked as well?" Naruko said trying to turn the tables on her girlfriend.

"Euh, w-well maybe I d-do want that." Haku said trying to be brave.

"Haku-chan, you pervert." Naruko smiled broadly.

"What's wrong with me wanting to see my lover's beautiful body?" Haku said hugging Naruko closely.

"Nothing I guess." Naruko sighed. "Haku-chan, I…."

"It's okay, Naru-chan." Haku smiled. "I know we're not ready for 'that' yet but I do like touching and holding you."

"Yeah, me too." Naruko said before kissing Haku once more.

After they got their stuff together they left the house for the onsen. Luckily, it wasn't very busy at this time of the day and they went straight ahead. After a bit of fooling around the two girls relaxed in the hot water, enjoying the peace and quiet. In a sudden move Naruko grabbed Haku and pulled her in her lap and let her lean against her chest. Haku didn't complain and enjoyed the feeling of Naruko's breasts against her back before relaxing while Naruko wrapped her arms around her.

This was how Yuugao and Anko found them and for once they decided not to tease them. They looked so peaceful that they didn't want to disturb them and they quietly entered the water, only alerting the two girls of their presence when they sat down next to them. Haku untangled herself from Naruko's grip and gave her a kiss not caring that everyone could see them. She didn't care anymore what other thought about her relationship with Naruko.

"Hey Anko-neechan, how was your week." Naruko asked happy to see her sister again.

"Oh, it was okay." Anko shrugged. "Guess who just became 'Konoha's Prison Facility' newest bitch?"

"Euhm, we give up." Naruko said after thinking for a bit.

"Gato of course." Anko grinned. "Oh, you should have seen it. The moment he set foot into his cell, his cellmate grabbed him and announced him as his new playtoy." Anko laughed loudly.

"Ew, too much information." Naruko said disgusted. Haku on the other found it poetic justice.

"Good, he used to screw people over but now he's the one getting screwed." She said happily making the three other howl out in laughter.

"Yuu-chan here told me about the promotion to Chuunin. I'm very proud of you two." Anko smiled at them. "Also, Sandaime asked me to be the proctor of the second task in the Chuunin Exams. I'm still thinking about it though. I mean, what kind of test could I give them?"

"I think that's a great opportunity, Anko-chan." Yuugao said.

"Yeah, think about all those frail and weak Genin that you could scare." Haku added knowing that Anko enjoyed that.

"Oh, I know." Naruko exclaimed. "You could force them to stay in the 'Forest of Death' for a day or two."

"Oho, I like your style, Naru-chan." Anko said interested. "That might be interesting indeed." The three others could already see that Anko was seriously tempted to accept the offer and put those poor Genin in that awful forest. "But two days isn't long enough. No, I think five days would be just perfect." Anko grinned evilly.

"Now Anko-chan, remember that they do have to get out of there alive." Yuugao reminded her.

"Details." Anko waved Yuugao's concern away. "Besides, if I can get them so sign a form of consent then I'm safe."

"Yes well, you better discuss this with Hokage-sama first." Yuugao warned her.

"Sure thing." Anko smiled and kissed Yuugao.

* * *

The rest of their time at the onsen was spent talking and laughing before they had to get ready for the meeting with the Hokage. Naruko and Haku were feeling kind of nervous as were only promoted to Chuunin a few hours ago. No doubt some people would protest but Yuugao assured them that the Hokage was fully aware of what he had done and that no one would dare question his judgment on this matter.

When they arrived at the Tower it was clear that the Hokage had called the head of the major clans and most of the Jounin of the village. Naruko was impressed to see so many Jounin and she and Haku felt a bit out of place as they were the only Chuunin present. Already some people started to stare and point at them but they didn't show that it bothered them.

"Welcome all and thank you for joining me on such short notice." The Hokage said when everyone had arrived. "Now, what I'm about to tell is a S-rank secret and I'm you're all aware what that means if I hear rumors about what we discussed here today." The Hokage said making sure that everyone understood the importance of secrecy. "A few days, Genin Uzumaki Naruko, while being on a weeklong guarding assignment, noticed Chuunin Touji Mizuki sneak past the outer guard post." Some people already started to whisper amongst themselves and the Sandaime raised his hand to call for silence. "She alerted her Jounin Sensei, Uzuki Yuugao, who set out to follow Mizuki. I now give the word to Uzuki Yuugao. Please tell everyone what you've told me."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yuugao nodded. " I followed Mizuki, who didn't notice my presence at any point, until he came into a clearing where two men were already waiting for him. One was a Suna shinobi and the other was from an unknown village. He wore a headband with a musical note on it. They started talking and Mizuki then received orders from none other than Orochimaru himself." Here everyone gasped and Anko started shaking in anger. It took both Naruko and Haku to calm her down enough so she could hear what Yuugao said next. "I was unable to learn what Mizuki's orders were but I did manage to learn their main objective. Suna and this unknown village are preparing to launch an attack against Konoha. They plan to attack during the last task of the Chuunin exams."

The silence was deafening but soon the crowd started talking and most of them were furious that Suna, an ally of Konoha for many years, would suddenly betray them. The Hokage let them discuss what they had learned amongst themselves for a bit knowing that this was a way to deal with the news. His advisors and Danzo, however wanted to know what they were going to do about this.

"We should attack them before they hit us." Danzo said slamming his hand on the desk.

"No, I refuse to be the one who attacks an allied nation." Sandaime shook his head. "I will not have Konoha to be known to start a new war. There has been enough death already."

"You can't be serious Sarutobi." Danzo said angry. "You're willing to let Konoha be attacked because you're afraid aren't you? You've always been soft when it came to war. If I were…."

Danzo felt himself incapable of continuing his sentence as he was blasted with the full power of Sarutobi Hiruzen's Killing Intent. Gulping, he realized he had overstepped his boundaries and if he didn't apologize quickly he would be in serious trouble but it seemed that Sarutobi was unwilling to let him talk.

"Danzo, I allowed your foolishness for far too long." Sandaime said coldly. "I let myself believe that you always had Konoha's welfare in mind but I see now how wrong I was. You're willing to start a war against two nations, one which we know nothing about? Do not mistake my unwillingness to start a war with weakness, Danzo." The Sandaime said stepping from behind his desk. "Unlike you, I care about every shinobi in this village and I'm not about to send them to war once more. Shinobi are not the Hokage's tools to do as he pleases but then again, that's something you have never understood. I'm telling you this one more time. Do not mistake my good intentions and beliefs for weakness because if you dare go against me then I will destroy you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Danzo managed to say after the fear from feeling the Sandaime's killing intent disappear.

"As for how we will deal with this threat?" Sandaime continued. "I have made plans to recall both Jiraiya and Tsunade to the village." Here everyone become a bit more optimistic as two of the Sannin would be a large help during the attack. "We will secretly prepare a counterattack since we know where and when the enemy will strike. We shall do this without alerting the enemy that we know of their plans so we must maintain total secrecy. For now, only those of you who are present know about the attack and I want to keep it that way."

"Hokage-sama, pardon my interruption and my question and please believe me when I say that I'm not questioning your judgment but why are Uzumaki Naruko and Haku present for this meeting." Nara Shikaku asked.

"Excellent question Nara-san." Sandaime smiled showing that he didn't take offence at the question. "They are here, firstly because they were the ones to catch Mizuki in the act and secondly because I promoted them to Chuunin so they could perform the special mission of convincing Tsunade to come back to the village."

"I see. A most important mission indeed." Shikaku said nodding. "I assume you used the field promotion as this is in fact war?"

"You assumed correctly." Sandaime nodded. "Naruko and Haku are well beyond the rest of the Genin and I'm sure their records will convince you as well, if you want to see it?"

"Not at all, Hokage-sama. I'm well aware that these two are more than qualified to be Chuunin." Shikaku said smiling at the two girls who thanked him with a smile and a nod.

"Good. Ibiki, I need you and Anko to take care of the first and second task of the Chuunin exams." Sandaime said. "Come see me when you have a proposition for the tasks and we'll discuss it together. Jounin Sensei, you are to prepare your students for eventual combat. I hope that they won't get involved with the fighting but something tells me that will be impossible. Everyone else, continue as you were and if you have an idea that might help with the counterattack, please step forward at any time."

"Hokage-sama, do we have an idea why Orochimaru choose to attack at this time?" Kakashi asked intrigued.

"Not at this time no. However, I hope that Jiraiya will be able to tell us more." The Sandaime answered. "But I think that Orochimaru has finally acquired enough men and strength, making him feel comfortable with attacking us. With Suna's help he must feel confident that he can defeat us but he's severely mistaken if he thinks that we'll let him win. We'll fight for our village and our loved ones and show the world once more that Konoha is the strongest village. Our 'Will of Fire' will destroy any and all enemies that threatens our lovely village." Cries of agreement filled the room and everyone was determined to show what would happen to those who dared attack their home.

"Over the next few months we'll figure out a way to defeat the enemy with the least possible damage to our village." Sandaime continued. "ANBU and the Elite Jounin will be charged with defeating the enemy that managed to get inside the village. Jounin and Chuunin will take care of protecting the Genin who will help evacuate the civilians. Also we will place enough troops at strategic buildings like the hospital and Academy."

"Hokage-sama, I think it would be prudent to prepare several teams to deal with summons as well." Anko said knowing how her former sensei thought.

"Excellent suggestion Anko. Orochimaru will surely use his Snake summons during the attack." The Sandaime agreed. "Though I suspect that he won't summon them himself but rather through proxy. Still, it's a good point. Luckily if we manage to get Jiraiya and Tsunade here, well have two Toad summoners and one Slug summoner at our side."

"Two Toad summoners, Hokage-Sama?" Asuma said thinking he had heard wrongly.

"Yes, Naruko here has signed the Toad Contract as well." Sandaime smiled at Naruko. "Again, this a S-class secret so keep quiet about this." Everyone nodded and some of them smiled at Naruko and nodded showing their respect for the girl. To get to sign the fabled Toad Contract meant that you had managed to impress Jiraiya of the Sannin enough to get noticed. They all knew about Naruko's burden and the fact that Jiraiya has shown interest in her only increased their respect for the girl.

"Hokage-sama, are we allowed to tell our Genin about the upcoming Chuunin Exams already?" Kurenai asked.

"Under the normal circumstances its preferred to wait until just before the exam but since this is nowhere near normal, I'll allow it." The Hokage said after thinking about it. "It would give the Jounin sensei a time window to teach them a few extra skills. So yes, you can tell them."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kurenai nodded thankful.

"One final thing, and this goes especially for you Anko." The Hokage said sternly. "Under no circumstances are any of you to engage Orochimaru in battle. He's too strong for any of you, so if you encounter him, flee and get everyone to safety. Do I make myself clear?" and he made sure to look directly at Anko when he said that last part.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." They all said, even Anko. If she didn't have Yuugao, Naruko and Haku she would have probable engaged him anyway but now she had a family to think about and she wouldn't risk losing them or them losing her because of her traitor sensei. He had done enough to her already.

"Very well, you're all dismissed but be ready to answer to my calls at any time." The Sandaime dismissed them all.

The meeting had taken quite a bit of time and when Yuugao and the rest got home it was already past midnight. They all quickly went to bed as they needed to start training the next day already. Time was running short and in three months time Konoha would face its biggest crisis since the Kyuubi. Each of them knew however that they would give their very best to protect and defend the village they loved so much.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own Naruto.

So sorry for being a day late but I've been without internet for the whole weekend. Damn lighting fried my modem. Luckily I disconnected my laptop and all the rest otherwise I would have been pissed. Anyway nothing more to say than enjoy the chapter. 'Hint' a small lemon is included for those who wanted that.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Training and revelations

"FASTER!" Anko yelled out at both Naruko and Haku.

Both girls were running their laps with a madly crackling Anko hot at their butts. This morning Anko and Yuugao had not only woken them up at 5 AM but they had also pushed the girls harder than ever. Over the past few hours they had been running laps, doing exercises before doing more laps followed by……more exercises. Even Naruko, with her formidable amount of stamina, was close to collapsing after this rigorous training. It wasn't that the laps and exercises were that difficult but rather that her Sensei had chosen that morning to take the Gravity Seal, that was placed on her and Haku, to the next level and they really felt the change in weight now.

"Okay, that's it for conditioning training. Take five, girls." Anko smirked.

"F-Five? I n-need at least double that." Naruko panted loudly.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm beat." Haku agreed.

"Though noogies." Anko smiled. "You only get five so make them count." Both girls glared at Anko and sat down on the ground in hope to recover in those measly five minutes. "Oh relax, the hardest part is over."

"Really?" Naruko asked smiling.

"No, just kidding." Anko said laughing loudly. "We're only just beginning. Let me tell you, Yuu-chan and I have some good stuff planned for the two of you. I'll bet you anything that by the time we get home you two will be so tired and sore that you'll just crawl into bed."

Just then Yuugao arrived at the training field and she whispered something to Anko who shook her head and smiled at the two young girls. Yuugao nodded and sat down in front of Naruko and Haku. She took two scrolls out of her pouch and put them in front of the girls.

"What's with the scrolls, Sensei?" Naruko asked curiously. "Is it more training or new Jutsu?"

"It's a bit of both, actually." Yuugao smiled. "Naruko, this is yours." Before giving her the scroll. "Inside you'll find the 'Kazekiri No jutsu' and the 'Reppushou no Jutsu'. Both are Fuuton jutsu and of offensive nature. On top of that I thought it might be interesting to start on your Fuuton Nature manipulation so I inserted a few exercises for that as well."

"Wow, thanks Sensei." Naruko said excited about learning two new jutsu.

"Haku, your scroll has the first five of the advanced kata's from my swordstyle that you'll need to learn." Yuugao said turning to Haku. "I also included the same Fuuton jutsu as you have that affinity as well."

"Thank you, Yuugao-sensei." Haku said gratefully.

"You're welcome." Yuugao smiled. "Now, why don't you two get started. We don't have much time and Jiraiya-sama could come back any day now."

The two girls nodded and started their training. Haku quickly created her ice katana and started learning the first kata. She immediately noticed that the style was based on gracefulness and speed. It used the opponents strength against him and the finishing blow of each kata was swift and fast. It was totally different from Zabuza's style, who used his large blade and strength to defeat his enemies but Haku knew that Yuugao's style was better suited for her.

Naruko on her side had practiced the first jutsu and the first few tries hadn't done more than scratching the trunk of the tree she had selected to practice on. Naruko wasn't disappointed however as she had been holding back the amount of chakra she had used. Now that she had done the jutsu a few times she could gradually increase the amount of chakra until she figured out the exact amount needed to cut the trunk of the tree.

From afar Yuugao and Anko were observing and once more both girls managed to impress them. The jutsu that Naruko was learning was a B-rank jutsu so it wasn't something a newly promoted Chuunin could learn that easily but they figured that Naruko's affinity with the Fuuton element was that great. They didn't doubt that Naruko would have the jutsu mastered in the next few days before she would move on to the second jutsu. Haku was also well on her way to learn the first kata, which granted, wasn't all that difficult but Yuugao saw that Haku had the raw potential to become a great swordmaster. All they needed was time and these girls would become the best kunoichi since Tsunade.

* * *

Several hours later Yuugao and Anko told the two girls that they could stop and have lunch. Naruko dragged Haku with her to Ichiraku's as she was starving for some ramen. Yuugao and Anko begged off saying that they would meet up with them after lunch on the training ground. When they arrived at Ichiraku's Naruko sat down on the comfy chairs and quickly ordered several bowls of ramen for her and Haku.

"How are my two favorite girls doing?" Ayame asked. She had really gotten attached to Haku as well over the past few weeks. The girl was just so polite and friendly that she couldn't imagine someone hating the girl.

"Oh we're doing great Ayame-chan." Naruko said while she waited for her ramen. "Though Yuugao-sensei decided to raise our training to the next level."

"Oh my, that sounds hard." Ayame said knowing just what kind of training a kunoichi had to do. That was one of the reasons she never wanted to become a kunoichi. That and the fact that she couldn't put her father through the worrying of his only daughter's safety. "Are you two going to be okay?"

"Please don't worry about us, Ayame-san." Haku smiled. "We'll be fine; it's just the first day now and that makes it always a bit harder."

"Well, I guess I'll have to help you two out in my own way." Ayame said before adding an extra portion of meat and vegetables in their ramen.

"You're the greatest Ayame-chan." Naruko said already drooling at the sight.

Lunch at Ichiraku's always meant a lot of laughter and fun for Naruko and Haku. They got along greatly with Ayame and Teuchi and they always had the craziest stories to tell about people who came to eat and relax here. In all of Konoha there wasn't another ramen stand that was so popular thanks to the warm welcome you received and the superb ramen they made. Haku and Naruko were laughing loudly when Ayame told them about the time one of their clients had tried to hit on her and how her father had reminded the man that while he wasn't a shinobi, he would still kick the man's behind if he touched his daughter.

"Wow Teuchi-ossan, I didn't peg you as a possessive father like that." Naruko joked.

"I'm not but that guy definitely wasn't good enough for her." Teuchi winked at the girls while Ayame rolled her eyes at her father's remark.

Naruko and Haku then said their goodbye's as they wanted to walk around a bit before they had to return to the training field. They wandered around a bit until they saw a large group of familiar faces approach. Team 8 and 10 were walking towards them and emotions were headed as Ino was loudly berating Shikamaru.

"Really Shika, do you have to be so lazy all the time?" Ino complained. "I mean, even forehead-girl has to be stronger than you by now."

"Training is so troublesome." Shikamaru deadpanned making Chouji snicker and Ino red in the face.

Sarutobi Asuma, Jounin-sensei of Team 10 couldn't help but groan when he saw his pupils arguing in the street. He silently agreed with Ino however. It wasn't that his students hadn't progressed since they had graduated from the academy but they were nowhere where they could be if they had taken training seriously. He looked at his three students and wondered how he could remediate this, they would need to get stronger as he worried about the invasion. Shikamaru, while brilliant was lazy and preferred watching the clouds instead of training. Chouji, bless his soft-natured heart, was more interested in stuffing himself with food and support Shikamaru against Ino. The Yamanaka had a bossy attitude, ordering the two boys around but hardly did anything herself; add the fact that she's more focused on the Uchiha and training goes out the window.

"Man, I'm glad I'm not on your team." Kiba said to Shikamaru. "Ino would drive me crazy."

"Blondes are so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed loudly not noticing that Naruko and Haku were approaching.

"Careful pineapple-head, I might take offense at that remark." Naruko glared at the lazy Nara heir.

"Ah Naruko-chan, Haku-chan, it's good to see you two again." Kurenai said smiling.

"It's nice to see you to, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei." Haku said politely.

"How are you two doing? Training hard I suppose?" Asuma said lighting another cigarette.

"You bet, Yuugao-sensei is putting us through the wringer." Naruko answered. "But we don't mind, do we Haku-chan?"

"Nope, not at all." Haku agreed.

"Excuse me but I don't think I have ever seen you before." Chouji said blushing at Haku, who was without a doubt the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

"Oh that's right. You haven't met Team 10 yet." Naruko said to Haku. "Well that's Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru."

"It's nice to meet you all." Haku said smiling.

"Hey, what about us?" Kiba shouted. "We haven't been introduced either. Never mind, I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my partner Akamaru."

"Kiba, we have seen her before." Kurenai said. "Remember the mission in Wave? She was part of Naruko's team that took Gato away."

"Oh yeah, now I remember." Kiba recalled. "But why haven't we seen you in the village before."

"That's because I met Naruko-chan outside the village and she asked me to join Konoha." Haku explained without giving out too much detail. "I joined about a month and a half ago."

"Ah, that explains a lot." Shikamaru nodded.

"Hey, how about I show you around sometimes?" Kiba said trying to sound charming.

"Are you hitting on my girlfriend, dog boy?" Naruko said with narrowed eyes and she took Haku's hand in hers to show him she was taken.

"GIRLFRIEND?" Ino shouted. "Y-You two are g-girlfriends? Like in a relationship?"

"Yes, we are. Is that a problem, Yamanaka-san?" Haku said glaring at the girl. Nobody messed with her when it came to her and Naruko and she wasn't about to let that comment slide. She had heard the tone which the Yamanaka had used to ask that question.

"N-no, no p-problem." Ino stammered after being submitted to Haku's icy glare.

Asuma and Kurenai saw that this might get out of hand so they quickly excused them and their teams saying that they need to report to the Hokage. Naruko and Haku smiled and wished them all a good day before walking to the training field.

"Wow, that's so hot." Kiba said when staring at Naruko's and Haku's back.

"Kiba!" Kurenai said angrily. "Please have some respect and keep those thoughts to yourself."

"Sorry Sensei." Kiba said quickly not wanting to anger her. He knew better than to say something perverted in front of her but it had just slipped out.

"Girlfriends? I knew something was wrong with her." Ino said shocked. "No wonder she wasn't interested in Sasuke-kun."

"Ino, please refrain from drawing conclusions without knowing the whole story." Asuma said quickly. "And there's nothing wrong with either of them. I expect you to be mature about this and keep this information to yourself. If I find out that you badmouth them, there will be consequences. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sensei." Ino said disappointed but she didn't want to risk disobeying him.

"That goes for you three as well." Kurenai said to her students. "You aren't academy students anymore so I hope you'll be accepting of them and be mature enough not to judge them for this." The Genin all nodded and then followed their sensei to the Hokage Tower so they could make their report about the mission they had done.

* * *

Naruko and Haku were walking hand in hand to the training field. Naruko was a bit mad that Kiba would openly hit on her girlfriend like that and she was afraid that she had been a bit too open about their relationship. She didn't know if Haku was prepared to bring their relationship in the open already so she was worried that Haku was mad at her. When they arrived at the training field neither Yuugao or Anko were there so they sat down, waiting for them.

"Haku-chan, I'm sorry about how I reacted there." Naruko said softly.

"Huh? Oh Naru-chan, you don't need to apologize." Haku said before kissing her favorite blonde.

"You're not mad that I told them about us?" Naruko said surprised. "I mean, I know we wouldn't hide it anymore but I just practically announced it to the whole village."

"I don't care who knows it." Haku smiled. "I love you and nothing is going to change that. Definitely not some people like Ino and Kiba."

"I love you too." Naruko sighed happily and she grabbed Haku in a hug and kissed her deeply until a clearing of a throat separated them. They separated from each other and saw a grinning Anko and stern looking Yuugao standing behind them.

"Oh sorry Yuugao-sensei, didn't see you there." Naruko said quickly.

"Don't worry about it Naru-chan." Yuugao said not really mad. "So, are you two ready for the rest of the training?"

"You bet." Both girls shouted enthusiastically.

For the rest of the afternoon Naruko and Haku trained in Taijutsu and Kenjutsu. Naruko first trained with Anko in her Taijutsu, without the use of her Raiton element. Anko proved to be a very though opponent for Naruko as she was very fast and agile. Also the Taijutsu that Naruko had learned was more suited for assassination but it could also be used as normal Taijutsu. Anko didn't pull any punches however and soon Naruko was hurting all over, even with her healing factor.

Meanwhile, Haku and Yuugao were practicing Kenjutsu. Haku could already form her blade in less than a few seconds and had no trouble channeling her chakra inside the blade. That way it was much stronger and almost unbreakable. At first Yuugao and Haku practiced the kata's together so that Haku could get the feeling of handling her blade. Once Yuugao was satisfied with Haku's performance they switched to wooden blades and they sparred together. It started slowly with Yuugao announcing her attacks and Haku being focused on defending herself. Then Yuugao picked up the pace and Haku had to increase her speed to block all the attacks. When she failed to block it, Yuugao's wooden sword left a very sore spot on her body.

* * *

Several hours later Naruko and Haku were carried home by Yuugao and Anko as they were so tired. They could hardly stand up because of their exhaustion. When they got home, Yuugao told them to get a quick shower and then take a nap before dinner. Haku took her shower first, followed by Naruko but neither stayed very long under it. When Naruko entered their room, she saw Haku snoring on her bed still with her towel wrapped around her. Naruko, who was also too tired to change, just crawled into her bed as well. It only took a few seconds before Naruko was sound asleep.

An hour later Anko went to wake the girls as dinner was ready but when she noticed the girls she grinned and her prankster side awakened. Gently she lifted Haku out of her bed and placed her next to Naruko. Then she, with great care, undid their towels and put the blankets over the two sleeping girls. When Yuugao saw Anko return without the girls she asked what was going on and Anko just replied that they were both sound asleep.

"What did you do?" Yuugao sighed recognizing that grin on Anko's face.

"Me? Nothing, I swear." Anko smiled mischievously. Yuugao got up and peeked into the girls' bedroom only to see the girls sleeping in the same bed. "I wonder how they'll react." Anko thought out loud.

"I guess it's only a matter of time anyway." Yuugao nodded. "Besides, there's nothing greater than waking up in your lover's arm."

"You got that right." Anko said before she kissed Yuugao passionately.

* * *

The next morning, Naruko woke up very early and she was a little disoriented at first. She didn't recall going to bed and her stomach was begging for food. Suddenly she noticed that she had gone to bed completely naked, something she usually never does and that a slim arm was wrapped around her waist hugging her close. She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder and saw the sleeping face of Haku. She relaxed and took in Haku's scent; she loved it very much. Haku's scent reminded her of the beautiful field full of flowers where they had met for the first time; she inhaled the scent and snuggled closer into Haku's embrace. She loved the feeling of Haku's skin on hers and while she had been surprised at first she now was thankful that she could wake up like this. Naruko closed her eyes and dozed off again.

Sometime after Naruko had dozed off again, it was Haku's turn to wake up and think about how she got into Naruko's bed totally naked. Like Naruko she couldn't remember going to bed; all she remembered was taking a shower when they got home after training. Now she was laying in her girlfriend's bed, naked with her arms around said girlfriend who was equally naked. Deciding it didn't matter how she got there, she enjoyed the warmth of Naruko's body pressed against hers. Haku pulled Naruko closer and buried her head in Naruko's long blonde hair; it still smelled like the shampoo the girl loved so much. Feeling a bit adventurous Haku kissed Naruko's bare shoulder earning a soft moan from the girl. Haku giggled and continued planting kisses on Naruko's skin, while snuggling closer. This made Naruko wake up again and she turned to Haku.

"Good morning Haku-chan." Naruko said turning around to face Haku.

"Morning, Naru-chan." Haku smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Never better, you?" Naruko nodded.

"Me too. What happened? How did I get into your bed?" She asked then.

"No idea but I'm not complaining at all." Naruko laughed and kissed Haku deeply. "You're not going anywhere from now on."

"Good, because I don't think I would be able to sleep apart after this." Haku nodded before returning the kiss. Naruko rolled onto Haku and moaned as their skin made contact. While they had touched each other, it was totally different than before. In the Onsen they washed each other's back but that was it; now there were sexual feelings involved and the feeling of Haku's breasts pressed against hers made Naruko feel really good. Haku too enjoyed the feeling and instinctively she wrapped her arms around Naruko pulling her even closer. They looked at each other before they kissed again. Now, hormones were raging wildly and Naruko's hands were on Haku's side slowly but surely making their way up. Haku too was feeling excited and her hands were on Naruko's back before caressing Naruko's sides. When they broke the kiss, both girls were blushing madly and neither of them seemed to be able to say a word. Finally, Naruko opened her mouth.

"Haku-chan, I…..Can I touch you?" She asked blushing madly.

"Only if I can touch you too." Haku smiled. "But Naru-chan, I'm not ready to go all the way just yet. Is that okay?"

"O-Oh n-no, I'm not ready for that either." Naruko quickly reassured her. "I just want to….. I don't know…..touch you?"

"I want that too." Haku smiled before she pulled Naruko's head towards hers and kissed her. Naruko didn't need to be told twice and she eagerly returned the kiss. Now hand were still roaming around and when Naruko's hands reached Haku's breast she gently touched them making Haku moan in the kiss. Not to be outdone Haku too, brought her hands to Naruko's chest and started exploring. When the kiss ended Naruko smiled at Haku.

"You're so beautiful Haku-chan." Naruko breathed softly, her hands still on her Haku's breasts. "I could look at you for the rest of my life."

"Thank you Naru-chan." Haku blushed. "I feel the same way about you." Haku was still laying underneath Naruko and she decided that now she wanted to be the one on top so she flipped Naruko on her back and kissed her. Haku's kisses were soft and swift, going from Naruko's lips to her jaw and finally to Naruko's neck. Naruko gasped as she felt Haku kissing her neck and she knew that this was a sensitive spot. Haku too smiled and vowed to remember this for later. Haku continued and kissed the skin between Naruko's breast while gently using both hands to massage them and touch them. Haku didn't know if she did it right but when she heard Naruko's moans increasing she smirked and carried on.

Naruko was on cloud nine thanks to Haku. Never had she felt like that and she loved it; the thought of Haku touching her and kissing her all over her body made her so hot. She moaned as Haku kissed her breasts and used her tongue to touch her nipple. When she felt Haku's tongue playing with her nipple her vision blurred and she moaned loudly, her whole body shaking from the feeling of her first orgasm. While they technically hadn't done that much yet, it felt amazing to Naruko and she couldn't wait to repay the favor to Haku. Once she recovered she saw Haku smiling at her and Naruko didn't waste a second and pounced on Haku.

"That was amazing Haku-chan." Naruko whispered. "Now, it's your turn to feel good."

Haku gulped in anticipation and when Naruko straddled her she could hardly contain herself. Naruko, determined to make Haku have the same experience, started slowly with kisses on the cheek before going to Haku's ear and nibbling softly on her earlobe. Haku seemed to like it and while she was doing that, her hands were caressing Haku's body. First her hands roamed her sides, gently tickling her but not enough to make her laugh but rather to give her Goosebumps. Then she placed her hands on Haku's stomach, rubbing small circles before slowly move upwards. Naruko stopped nibbling on Haku's earlobe, earning a sigh of disappointment from Haku, which was soon followed by a moan of pleasure as she started working on kissing her collarbone and neck. By now Naruko's hands had reached Haku's breasts and they were slowly rubbing them, touching and massaging them to Haku's delight. It felt so great and Haku moaned once more in pleasure. That moan was followed with an even louder one when Naruko decided to go for the main course and attacked her breasts with her lips and tongue. It didn't take long for Haku to reach her climax and she too felt the amazing feeling of her first orgasm.

"Wow." Haku said when Naruko crawled off her and grabbed her in a hug.

"That's what I was hoping to hear." Naruko joked softly.

They stayed in bed a bit longer, cuddling and kissing before they got up and headed for the bathroom to get a shower. While Naruko took her shower, Haku was stripping the bed sheets from the bed so they could be washed. She dumped them in the hamper and started preparing breakfast as Yuugao and Anko weren't up yet. Once Naruko finished her shower, Haku quickly took hers and returned in time to see Yuugao and Anko sit down at the table.

"Good morning girls." Yuugao said smiling.

"Morning." Both girls replied.

"So, did you two sleep well?" Anko asked grinning.

"Yeah we di….It was you, wasn't it?" Naruko accused Anko.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Anko denied but both Naruko and Haku knew that innocent looking façade.

"You were the one who put me in Naru-chan's bed." Haku glared at her.

"Maybe." Anko smirked. "But then again, judging from the moans we heard this morning neither of you have any right to complain."

"Y-you h-heard us?" Naruko said embarrassed like crazy.

"Anko, remember what we talked about earlier." Yuugao said sternly to her lover. They had talked about what the girls had done and Anko had promised to keep the teasing to a minimum. "And yes, we heard you because the door was opened."

"O-Oh." Haku said mortified that they had been overheard and cursing herself for not thinking about closing the door.

"Oh come on, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." Anko said. "It's perfectly normal to do what you did. Look, I promise I won't tease you two about it if I can ask one question." Naruko and Haku looked at each other and nodded to Anko. "How was it?" both girls' face lighted up like crazy and neither dared look at the other. "Oho, that good huh? Well, next time close the door."

"All joking aside, I'm happy for the two of you as long as you're both okay with it." Yuugao said smiling. "There's no greater feeling than waking up in your lover's arms in the morning. Still, if you have questions ask them ok? Don't be shy about this, that's what big sisters are here for."

"Thanks neechan." Both girls said nodding.

"Alright, go get ready for training." Yuugao said while cleaning up after breakfast. Naruko and Haku nodded knowing that they would be tired again by the end of the day but the thought of holding each other in their sleep was enough to get them through the day, no matter how much training they had to do.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and see you all in two weeks.


	15. Chapter 15

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I hope you all had a great two weeks and are all in good health. I'm doing okay but I've started reading a new series and it's been drawing my time away from writing. I recently became hooked on the 'Sword of truth' books and I loved it so much I finished the first book in less than 3 days. Great stuff.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Where is Tsunade?

It was now a month and a half before the start of the Chuunin exams and everyone who knew of the coming invasion by Oto and Suna were training harder than ever. Even the Jounin sensei pushed the unknowing Genin harder than ever. While the Jounin and the Genin were training, the Sandaime and his team, consisting out of Morino Ibiki, Nara Shikaku, his advisors, Danzo and the Head of Anbu were busy planning the counter-attack against the invading forces. Together they had already come up with several plans but nothing final just yet. There were still too many unknown variables to make a sound plan of the counter-attack.

The Sandaime was waiting for Jiraiya to get back with further information but it seemed that Orochimaru had really covered his track this time. All those who knew of the attack were either very high up the ladder or were very good at hiding things. Still, the Sandaime was sure that Jiraiya would come up with something new that would be helpful. But most of all, they needed to get Tsunade back in the village so the number of deaths could be reduced. There was no doubt in his mind that people would get killed and injured, and while Konoha had several talented Medic-Nin, none of them came even close to Tsunade's level.

"Should we recall our troops from the borders just in case?" One of the advisors asked.

"No, I'm sure Orochimaru will have those forces watched until right before the attack." The Sandaime shook his head. "If we recall them now, he might figure out something is wrong and that his plan is compromised."

"Hokage-sama is right." Shikaku said. "Orochimaru is no fool, he knows that even with the joined attack between Suna and Oto things won't go as easily as planned. He will want to be absolutely sure that the number of Konoha shinobi is at the lowest possible."

"Then how will we proceed?" Danzo asked impatient. Ever since the Sandaime had humiliated him in the meeting he had been in a very bad mood and especially his men in ROOT suffered greatly for it. Nowadays, making a mistake in ROOT could cost you your life. Of course, they all were so brainwashed by him that none of them questioned the situation and just obeyed his orders as they had always done in the past.

"If I may?" Ibiki said grabbing the map of Konoha and its surroundings. "If I were Orochimaru, I would first make sure that I have people on the inside to chase panic and chaos. Meanwhile, the second wave of attacks would come from outside the walls." He showed on the map where he would place guards. "The question is where will Orochimaru be?"

"If I know my former student, then I'm sure he'll be inside the village." The Sandaime said after thinking. "He won't risk being exposed too early, so he'll be the one to determine when it is right to attack."

"I agree." The Head of Anbu said. "The stadium where the third and final round of the Chuunin exams will be held is an ideal place to spring a trap. We can lure them into the stadium and then attack them from all sides."

"We'll need decoys and people to be disguised as Konoha shinobi so he won't question where everyone is." Danzo said. "If he notices that there aren't any shinobi or guard present he'll know something is up."

"I might have an idea." The Sandaime said. "I'll get back to you when I know more about it."

"How far are we with the preparations of the Chuunin exams?" Homura asked curious.

"So far Ibiki and Anko have started on preparing for their parts." The Sandaime said. "Ibiki will do a written test under severe psychological stress to see if the Genin are capable of dealing with such a situation while Anko will hold her part in the 'Forest of Death'. "

"What does she plan to do? Get them all killed?" Koharu snorted. "That forest is dangerous even for Jounin."

"True but it's a great test and a way to deal with some of those invading shinobi if needed." The Sandaime admitted. "No doubt there will be several teams of both villages, maybe even higher level shinobi disguised as Genin. We'll place a few teams inside and if necessary eliminate them."

"I see, that's not a bad idea." Danzo admitted surprised. It wasn't anything he had expected from Sarutobi as he normally was against pointless killing.

The rest of the meeting they all gave their suggestions and remarks about how to deal with the invasion. They still had a lot of planning to do but at least they already had an idea about how they would react to the attack. The Sandaime was happy that he could count on each and everyone that had been informed to give it their best shot and he had no doubt that Konoha would be victorious in battle. Nobody would destroy Konoha while he was in charge, he would make sure of that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruko and Haku were training hard. They focused solely on training and the Sandaime had announced that they wouldn't be doing any missions as he wanted them available to leave at a moment's notice when Jiraiya came to the village. Training so far consisted out of stamina, power and speed training followed by Taijutsu and Kenjutsu before they were allowed to work on their Ninjutsu. Yuugao and Anko were very pleased with their progress so far.

Haku was working hard on her new jutsu and had managed some small successes. She was now able to form a mirror of ice from about two arm lengths away. The bad part was that she still needed a lot of concentration to do the jutsu and she still wasn't satisfied with the range of the jutsu. If she truly wanted this to become one of her signature jutsu then it needed to be far more impressive. The idea was that she would be able to form the mirror from a safe distant and then just eliminate the target without him knowing or noticing her. She knew that the jutsu was already very impressive but ever since she had met Naruko she had become a bit more competitive than before. She and Naruko had a friendly rivalry going on and it pushed both of them to be better than the other.

Naruko was also working hard on a new jutsu that she had come up with during one of the many brainstorming sessions she and Haku had. Together they came up with several ideas for new jutsu and this was one of her favorite ideas. The thought was that, now that she had a certain grasp on her Raiton Nature manipulation, she would try and make a defensive technique. They had come up with a few ideas that might work and she was dying to try them out. Still, you can't just create a new technique on the fly like that and it would take her several weeks if not more to create one. Anyway, the technique she was trying to make was something of a defensive technique that would allow her to shock any enemy that managed to grab her or came too close.

In fact, it didn't change that much from the technique she used for her Taijutsu only on a much larger scale. Instead of focusing her chakra into her fists, she tried to make it envelop her entire body. That was easier said than done as it required way more chakra and a lot more surface to cover. She had been trying for a few days now and so far she hadn't succeeded at all and frankly it was pissing her off to no end. Sighing she decided to rethink the jutsu.

'Let's see. If I can't get it to cover my entire body then maybe I should use small bursts of Raiton chakra.' Naruko thought.

Figuring it wouldn't hurt to try she concentrated and tried to create a strand of Raiton chakra from her arm. After concentrating for five minutes she felt it and she pushed her chakra out of her body. Instantly lightning like strands of chakra erupted from her arm, surrounding it. It only lasted of a second or two but Naruko knew that if someone had touched it they would have received a severe shock. She grinned in anticipation and tried again but this time she tried to hold it a bit longer.

Yuugao, who had been watching from afar could only gape in surprise when she saw what Naruko did. She was wondering what the girl was working on but figured that she would tell when she deemed it complete. Now however she had a good idea of what the jutsu was and she approved of it. If Naruko learned to do it over her whole body and a bit longer it could be an amazing defensive technique. She could give her some pointers but she preferred to let Naruko figure things out for herself. Still, she could hardly wait to see the completed version in action.

* * *

Jiraiya was hurrying back as fast as he could without raising any suspicion. Over the past few weeks he had been searching for any clues about the invasion but he hadn't come up with much. He had also been trying to find her former teammate Tsunade in the hope of bringing her back to Konoha, though he had mixed feelings about that. He knew just how devastated Tsunade had been after the war and how much she was hurting from the loss of her little brother, Nawaki and her lover, Dan.

Dan, the name still made him angry. It wasn't that he disliked the man or anything, on the contrary. The man was a prime example of a Konoha shinobi, strong, loyal, caring and all that. No, it was the fact that he managed to capture Tsunade's heart that bothered him. Though a pervert he might be, he had truly loved Tsunade when he was younger but it wasn't meant to be in the end. Maybe it was his own fault for always teasing Tsunade when she was younger and always trying to peep on her. When they had become a Genin team, Jiraiya felt like he had found the two best friends in the entire world. Sure, they argued and fought a lot but underneath all that fighting there were true feelings of friendship and love. Jiraiya often thought back about those days, when they were just starting out as Genin under the care of the Sandaime.

He was a goof with a lot of potential but preferred to fool around; Orochimaru was a genius in every sense of the word; Tsunade was also talented in the shinobi arts and more specifically healing. They were an odd bunch but together they became some of the strongest shinobi ever in Konoha. He really thought that they would be together forever. Alas, things changed greatly after the war. Tsunade left with her young apprentice and Orochimaru started acting weird. Then the ultimate betrayal happened when Orochimaru fled the village after the Sandaime uncovered his secret lab where he had experimented on fellow shinobi, foreign and local. When he had encountered Orochimaru, he had been unable to defeat him because he still viewed the man as his friend and brother. Sadly, Orochimaru was already lost to the darkness and had no claims of holding back. After the battle, Jiraiya had been in the hospital for months recovering from his injuries.

That had been the start of Jiraiya's career as an information gatherer. In the beginning he had been doing it in the hopes of finding Orochimaru but soon he realized that his friend wasn't the same person he had grown up with and he opted to protect Konoha with the knowledge he learned from his informants. Yet, he always kept an eye out for the Snake Sannin as he knew that they would face each other again someday.

That moment was now getting closer and closer and while Jiraiya had no claims about fighting him now, he still worried about the attack. So many things could go wrong during an attack; it only needed the smallest change to blow up in your face. Still, he had faith in Konoha and its shinobi. However, he was worried about his sensei, knowing that he would do anything to stop Orochimaru, even sacrificing himself if needed. That was something that he would try to prevent at any cost. While the Sandaime might deem it a good trade, his life for the safety of his village, Jiraiya knew just how much the Sandaime meant for the village and more importantly, for Naruko. If anything happened to him, she would be devastated at losing the one person who had been there for her since the very beginning. No, losing the Sandaime was not an option.

He relaxed when he saw the great wall that surrounded the village in the distance and hurried on. Once he reached the wall, he discreetly sneaked inside the village and headed to the Hokage tower. Careful not to be noticed, he scaled the tower until he reached the window of the Sandaime's office and gently tapped it making the Sandaime aware of his presence. When the Sandaime noticed Jiraiya's arrival he quickly opened the window and let the man in.

"Jiraiya, finally you're here." The Sandaime said relieved. "what took you so long?"

"Sorry Sensei, but Orochimaru really covered his tracks well." Jiraiya apologized quickly. "But I found some information though not much."

"What can you tell me?" The Sandaime nodded.

"Well, it seems that the new shinobi village is called Otogakure and it's located in Ta no Kuni (Land of Rice)" Jiraiya started. "Also, he's the Otokage and he mostly attracted young Missing-Nin that nobody would miss and children that he and his men trained for a few years. According to my sources he has been gathering men for quite a while now."

"How the hell did he accomplish that without anyone noticing?" The Sandaime said furious.

"Like I said, he gathered people that nobody would miss. Orphans, runaways and that kind of people." Jiraiya answered. "Nobody cared if a few kids disappeared from the streets."

"Danzo was right. I have been too soft on him; I should've killed him when I had the chance." The Sandaime said slamming his fist on his desk. "Now Konoha is going to pay for my mistakes."

"You couldn't have known, Sensei." Jiraiya said. "Sure, maybe you should have done things differently but if you had actively searched for Orochimaru, how many shinobi would have died trying to catch him. No one outside you and me and perhaps Tsunade can measure up against him. They would have died for nothing."

"I know but still…." Sandaime sighed.

"Look, it's no use crying over spilt milk." Jiraiya continued. "We just need to make sure that he doesn't leave this place alive to bother us again in the future."

"You're right of course." The Sandaime said with renewed fire in his eyes. "Thanks Jiraiya, I needed to hear that."

"Don't mention it." The Toad Sage said. "I also found some traces of Tsunade so I came to collect Naruko. It may take a few weeks to get to her as she keeps moving from one place to another."

"I'll call for them." The Sandaime said and summoned an ANBU before giving him the order to get the girls and Yuugao.

While they waited for them to arrive they talked about some menial things trying to keep the mood light and happy. There was no reason for being a pessimist; all they needed was a good plan to counter attack and the Sandaime informed Jiraiya of the plans so far. Jiraiya actually agreed with them and told the Sandaime that he would make sure to be there so he could help deal with Orochimaru. When the Sandaime protested saying that he would deal with the snake alone, Jiraiya refused to listen and told him that there was no way that would happen.

Fifteen minutes later the girls had arrived and after some introduction as Jiraiya hadn't met Haku until now. Haku was very impressed with the man and Jiraiya too seemed to like the girl instantly. The fact that he noticed the effect the girl had on his goddaughter only made him like the girl even better. Anyone who could make Naruko smile like that, was okay in his book. He was also very impressed with her Kekkei Genkai.

Jiraiya then explained that he had found Tsunade's trail in a town about a few days traveling from Konoha where she had been gambling, and losing, for a few days. After that he had lost her again but he was sure that once they asked around a bit they would quickly pick up the trail again. The Sandaime told Naruko and Haku that Jiraiya would be waiting just outside the village for them the next morning. Naruko was to make a Kage Bunshin, disguised as Yuugao and exit the village as if they were doing a mission. This was to not alert any possible spies that Jiraiya had been in the village and that he left with a team. Yuugao would meanwhile return (temporarily) to ANBU and help with the preparations of the Chuunin Exams.

"While we are traveling I might teach you two some techniques." Jiraiya said to the girls who, of course were very happy to hear that.

"Really? You're the best Jiraiya-kyoufu." Naruko said giving Jiraiya a hug for the first time. Jiraiya happily hugged her back feeling very relieved that Naruko trusted him enough to hug him. It felt very rewarding and he vowed there and then to do anything in his power to make sure she would never have a reason to mistrust him.

"Hey, I have to spoil my goddaughter whenever I can, right?" Jiraiya smiled.

* * *

The next morning Naruko, Haku and a clone disguised as Yuugao made their way out of the village without raising any suspicions. The guards at the gate were used to see the trio leave for missions and they just greeted them and wished them success with the mission. Once outside the village, Jiraiya called out for them and they quickly left the premises. A few miles out of the village Jiraiya explained that they would be traveling to the small town where Tsunade had last been seen. Once there then they would ask around for clues for Tsunade's whereabouts.

"While we're traveling we'll work on some stuff." Jiraiya said while walking ahead.

"Why are we walking? Shouldn't we hurry up and find Tsunade-sama?" Haku asked thinking that it was better to hurry.

"Nah, there's no need to be hasty." Jiraiya assured them. "If Tsunade gets wind that I'm looking for her then she'll just disappear. She's good at that so we need to be careful. Besides, we still got time and it's better used to teach you two some things."

"So, what jutsu will you teach us?" Naruko asked impatient.

"Well, first of all I need to know what you're capable of." Jiraiya said. "I want to know what jutsu you can do, what you're working on now and so on."

So Naruko and Haku told him everything they had been working on. Jiraiya was very impressed with both of them and he told them several times. When Naruko admitted that she had mastered the Rasengan, Jiraiya asked to see it. When he saw how Naruko made the Rasengan with ease, he laughed loudly telling her that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He remembered how long Minato had worked on developing that jutsu.

"Naru-chan, you really are amazing." Jiraiya said lovingly. "It took your father three years to make that Jutsu and even now I doubt that there's a jutsu that can compare in complexity and power."

"It's really that powerful?" Naruko asked surprised. "I mean, I know it's a strong A-ranked Jutsu but…."

"You haven't used it on an opponent yet haven't you?" Jiraiya asked her. "Well, once you do you'll understand why Iwa was so scared of your father."

"Wasn't that because of the 'Hiraishin no Jutsu'?" Haku asked him.

"Oh yes, that jutsu made more than one Iwa-nin lose control over their bladder on the battlefield." Jiraiya laughed. "Minato was a genius when it came to fighting and making Jutsu. When he arrived on the battlefield it gave hope to his allies and brought despair to his enemies."

"He must have been really strong." Naruko said sadly. "I really wish they were still here."

"So do I, Naru-chan. So do I." Jiraiya said putting a hand on her shoulder. "But they wouldn't want you to be sad. Know that they loved you very much and that they knew that you would be the greatest kunoichi ever lived."

"Can't disappoint them then, can I?" Naruko smirked. "Alright, teach me a new jutsu."

"I will don't worry, but for now I want you to work on that Raiton Jutsu you just talked about." Jiraiya smiled. "While we walk I want you to make those strands of lighting and try to envelop your entire body."

"Okay." Naruko nodded.

"For you Haku, I want you to make a piece of ice and then change its shape while walking." Jiraiya instructed. "Change it into animals, form or whatever you like but try to increase details and speed every time."

"I understand." Haku said and started on her exercise as well.

While traveling Jiraiya and the girls talked about everything and nothing. Jiraiya had a great time recounting some of his adventures from his Genin days though he refrained from mentioning Orochimaru in many of them. The girls too enjoyed the stories. Especially the ones where Jiraiya was reprimanded by the, then much younger, Sandaime. Naruko had trouble imagining a young Sarutobi Hiruzen, without his gray hair and balding head and it gave her many giggles.

While telling his stories, Jiraiya paid great attention to both girls. There was no doubt in his mind that both girls were extremely talented. Naruko was already able to call forth several strands of lighting around her arms and torso. Already getting hit by one of those strands would numb or shock the opponent and he knew that if Naruko truly focused her chakra into the Jutsu then it wouldn't just shock the enemy but fry him on the spot. Haku too, seemed very talented in her Hyouton bloodline and she was changing the slab of ice into small figurines of animals or things while walking. Jiraiya knew that by this time tomorrow the girls will have made a lot of progress.

By nightfall the trio had reached the next postal town and they decided to get a room there in a small inn. The town wasn't anything special, it was hardly three streets big and seemed very boring to Naruko and Haku but they didn't complain. Jiraiya, who was sad that there wasn't a onsen in the town, decided to go out for a drink in the local bar while the girls preferred to stay in their room. They had been using a lot of chakra during the day and they were feeling a little tired.

When Jiraiya was gone the girls took a long shower and fooled around a bit before they got into bed. They snuggled closer to each other and it didn't take very long for both girls to fall asleep. Several hours later Jiraiya returned, feeling a little tipsy, and saw the two girls together. Now, normally this would bring out the pervert in him and he would have started writing in his notepad as several scenarios popped into his head but seeing as it was his goddaughter he just couldn't do it. He desperately needed her to trust him and they had been building their relationship from nothing and it was going great. So there was no way he would risk it all just for a chapter in his latest book. Sighing, he went to bed and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next morning, Jiraiya was woken up pretty early by Naruko saying that it was time to leave. The girls were already dressed and had taken care of breakfast for the three of them. Jiraiya nodded and crawled out of his bed to the bathroom. Apparently, he had drunk a lot more than he remembered judging from his pounding head. Ten minutes later Jiraiya felt much better and the three of them were enjoying a delicious breakfast.

"So, how did it go last night?" Naruko asked.

"Not too bad. Pretty cool people in this little town." Jiraiya answered. "Not a lot to do, though."

"Where are we headed next, Jiraiya-sama?" Haku asked him.

"I was hoping to get to the next major town by this afternoon." Jiraiya said. "There's a large casino there and I'm sure they'll remember Tsunade passing by."

"Why would they remember her?" Naruko said surprised. "I mean, there have to be many people going in and out of the casino?"

"Well, two reasons actually." Jiraiya answered. "One, because Tsunade is a bad gambler. She always loses, no matter how many times she tries. It's earned her the name of 'The Legendary Sucker' in most of the casinos. Most owners like to see her come as she plays big and loses big as well."

"And the second reason?" Haku asked.

"Euh, let's just say that she has some characteristics that make people remember her." Jiraiya said not wanting to mention Tsunade's chest in front of the girls.

"Huh?" Naruko said not understanding.

"You'll see when we find her." Jiraiya quickly said. "Okay let's go."

The girls nodded and followed Jiraiya out of the inn. Today they would travel a bit faster as Jiraiya wanted to reach the city today. He promised them a bit of free time while he searched for clues about Tsunade's whereabouts. That made the girls look forward to reaching the city and they didn't complain about the high speed travelling.


	16. Chapter 16

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I hope everyone has had a enjoyable to weeks? Also I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let's hope the world get a little better next year and people learn to live with each other better than this year. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: A 'shocking' meeting

It had been a week since Jiraiya and the girls had left Konoha in search for Tsunade aka 'The Legendary Sucker'. Naruko and Haku had seen many casino owners' faces light up when they mentioned the woman and they hadn't been entirely sure that it had to do with the fact that she lost all the time. No, Naruko and Haku recognized that there had to be something else about the woman to leave such an impression behind but when they asked Jiraiya he just laughed and told them that they would understand when they saw her.

During the week the girls training had continued and now Naruko was able to envelop her entire body with strands of Raiton Chakra. She hadn't tested it against an enemy however but she was pretty sure that he or she would think twice if they got shocked by it. Still it took a bit too long for her to use the jutsu so now she was working on the speed; she had been making progress but it was painstakingly slow and it frustrated her to no end.

Haku too had made some impressive progress over the last week. While before she had use handseals to form her sword, now she could do it without them. This made the jutsu even more dangerous and Jiraiya had been very impressed when he saw the sword and what it could do. He had asked her to stab it into a tree and when the area around the sword instantly froze his eyes bulged out and asked her to never use it on him. Haku had promised that if she ever used it on him, he would agree to the fact that he had deserved it somehow. Haku was also working on speed and shape of her sword so she could adapt to any situation.

All in all, Jiraiya was very pleased with their progress and he told them both just that. As a reward he had taught Naruko one of his personal jutsu. The 'Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu' was a jutsu that made Jiraiya's hair grow rapidly and it made it controllable. He could direct his hair to capture his opponent, make his hair harden and finally make spikes form to skewer his enemy. It was one of his special jutsu and Naruko loved it immediately. She still hadn't managed to grow her hair more than ten feet but she was getting there. To Haku, he had taught a Suiton jutsu. The 'Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu' was a devastating jutsu making a dragon form out of water and letting it slam into the opponent. So far it was one of Haku's strongest Suiton jutsu but it almost took half of her chakra to use so it was to be used carefully. Still, she enjoyed learning it very much.

Now they were following Jiraiya through the biggest city either girl had ever visited. Jiraiya had received word that Tsunade and her apprentice were in this city as there was a big gambling competition going on. He knew Tsunade wouldn't be able to resist this and they had made haste to get here. After asking around a bit Jiraiya had found out which casino was hosting the event and they quickly made their way over. Once they arrived Naruko and Haku stared at the building in disgust as it was lavishing decorated with neon lights and strange advertisements. It looked more like a brothel than anything else and if they looked at the people in the street they could distinguish several woman who were waiting for a man to come out, either to celebrate his winning or to forget that he lost everything. When they reached the entrance, two men jumped in front of them and refused to let them in.

"No minors allowed inside." One of the men said pointing to Naruko and Haku.

"They're kunoichi from Konoha." Jiraiya said not impressed. "As by the law of Hi no Kuni they are considered adults and thus are allowed to enter."

"They're just kids." The other man protested making both girls frown at being called a kid.

"Careful, they could kill you before you know it." Jiraiya said. "Now, let us in and don't bother us again."

"Urgh, very well." The men said not wanting to get killed in their sleep by shinobi tonight.

The trio walked past the two men and entered the casino. They were instantly assaulted by the sound and flashy lights that filled the building and Naruko and Haku gaped at the number of people present. The building was packed with people gambling and playing. To the girls, who had heard about these kind of games it was an eye-opener. They saw men and women jumping in joy at winning and others falling to their knees when they realized that they had lost everything. They watched people play poker, blackjack, roulette and slots; they looked as people bet small and big and shook their head at the behavior of the gamblers.

"How could they bet everything they have on a stupid game?" Naruko asked when she saw a man bet his entire live savings in a game of poker.

"It's an addiction." Jiraiya simply said. "the thought that they could get rich in one turn appeals to them so much that they forget the fact that they could lose as well. The rush they feel when they take such risks becomes addictive and they'll do anything to feel it again."

"Is Tsunade-sama like this as well?" Haku asked fearing the worst.

"No, I don't think so." Jiraiya said shaking his head. "To Tsunade it's more of a way to forget her past. She does it to clear her mind of the things that happened. Besides, Tsunade has enough money to be able to gamble so much without having to worry about debts." He continued. "Then again, she has been doing this for a long time so who knows how much she has lost."

The girls looked at each other and each thought the same thing. It was clear that Tsunade wasn't anything like they had imagined after hearing the stories Jiraiya had told them during the week. They had been looking forward to meeting this incredible kunoichi. Tsunade was rumored to be the strongest kunoichi ever lived and an even better medic-nin. They knew that Tsunade had some problems with Konoha and that she refused to come back but they still didn't know what the reason was. Jiraiya had refused to tell them that as it wasn't his story to tell.

"Aha, there she is." Jiraiya exclaimed suddenly and he walked to a table and sat down next to a big breasted blonde woman.

'Well, that answers the question why men get all dreamy when we ask about her.' Haku and Naruko thought. 'Stupid perverts.'

"Hello Tsunade, it's been a while." Jiraiya smiled at the shocked woman.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" she said shock clearly showing on her face. "I should have known that something was up when I won five rounds in a row." She muttered.

"We were looking for you." Jiraiya smiled as he picked up his cards handed by the dealer. "I call."

"We?" Tsunade raised her eyebrows while looking at her cards. "I fold."

"These are Naruko and Haku." Jiraiya introduced the girls. "Where's Shizune? We need to talk. "

"She's at the hotel taking a nap." Tsunade said. "And I'm not interested in what you have to say."

"Oh come on, don't be like that." Jiraiya said and he too folded his cards. "It's been so long since we've seen each other. You could at least hear me out for old times' sake."

"Fine but make it quick." Tsunade sighed as she couldn't really refuse her former teammate.

"Not here, let's talk somewhere private." Jiraiya said softly.

Tsunade agreed and together they went to the hotel where Tsunade and Shizune were staying. Once there she woke up Shizune, rather rudely thought Haku, and they sat down at the small table. Jiraiya unsealed a small bottle of sake and poured a saucer for him and Tsunade who accepted quickly and downed the alcoholic drink in one gulp. Jiraiya frowned as this sake was a very expensive one and should be savored before drinking but he didn't make any comment about it.

"So, what is it that you want?" Tsunade said rudely.

"What I'm about to say is a S-rank secret so keep that in mind." Jiraiya nodded. "Orochimaru is planning an attack on Konoha during the upcoming Chuunin exams. We were lucky to find out about it and we're taking precautions and planning as we speak."

"So he finally decided to get out of his hole then?" Tsunade said surprised but they could hear she didn't really care about it.

"It seems so." Jiraiya nodded again. "And that's why we're here; we need your help."

"Let me guess, the old monkey wants me to come back to Konoha?" Tsunade snorted loudly. "Not a chance."

"Sensei wants you to come back to help minimize the amount of deaths." Jiraiya said frowning. "If you're there, a lot of people could be saved. You're the best Medic-Nin in the Elemental Countries."

"Forget it." Tsunade snapped at Jiraiya. "I told the old bastard that I would never set foot in that cursed village ever again and I meant it."

"HEY, don't talk about Ji-chan like that!" Naruko said angrily.

"I'll say whatever I want about the old fool." Tsunade said looking at Naruko. "Besides, what is it to you anyway?"

"Ji-chan is a great man and anyone who disrespects him will meet my fist." Naruko said glaring at the blonde woman in front of her.

"Ha, that's a good one." Tsunade laughed loudly. "Girl, do you have any idea who I am? I'm one of the Sannin and the strongest kunoichi alive."

"No you're not." Naruko said immediately. "You're not the Tsunade that Jiraiya-kyoufu and Ji-chan talked about."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsunade said narrowing her eyes at Naruko.

"It means that the Tsunade I wanted to meet was a strong and loyal kunoichi of Konoha; she was an example for all kunoichi and someone every kunoichi should try to be like." Naruko said angry. "But that's not you. The Tsunade in front of us is nothing more than a drunk old hag who treats her old teammate and apprentice like dirt just because she feels sorry for herself. You're a disgrace to all kunoichi."

"You know nothing about me." Tsunade glared back. "You have no idea what I've been through. Everyone I ever loved and that loved me is gone because of that village."

"Oh spare me your sob story." Naruko said equally mad. "You think you're the only one to have a rough past? Don't be so egocentric; we've all lost people yet you don't see us drinking and gambling our live away. I lost my parents the day my dad sealed the Kyuubi inside me. Haku-chan lost her parents because of her Kekkei Genkai. Do we miss them? Of course. Every day I wish my parents were here to support and guide me but they're not. I miss them every day yet I try to live my life in a way that would make them proud and happy. I intent to be able to hold my head up high when I join them; so I can show them that their sacrifice wasn't in vain. What about you? What will your loved ones say when you join them? Will they be happy with the way you lived your live?"

"Jiraiya, I'm going to give your pupil five seconds to clear out of the room before I pummel her into the afterlife." Tsunade said angrily.

"Like you could." Naruko snorted. "You could barely walk straight. I may be only a Chuunin but I'm not afraid of a drunk hag like you."

"That's it." Tsunade roared and she jumped over the table grabbing Naruko by her clothes ready to punch her in the face. What happened next would literally shock Tsunade sober. Naruko, who had anticipated the attack, concentrated and forced her Raiton chakra outside her body like she had been practicing for the past few weeks. In less than a second, lighting strands erupted all over her body and Tsunade screamed loudly when she felt the force of the Chakra go through her body before she was flung backwards into the wall. Jiraiya, Shizune and Haku looked on in amazement at Tsunade as several remains of Raiton chakra strands were still running over her body. Naruko however was unharmed and she slowly advanced to Tsunade.

"Nobody insults Ji-chan and gets away with it." Naruko said loudly. "Ji-chan has always taken care of me and I love him more than any other man in the world. I don't care what your problem is with him but if you ever say things like that again, then I won't hold back."

"Naruko, that's enough." Jiraiya said sternly. "You've made your point now stand down."

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-kyoufu." Naruko said sadly.

"It's okay, Naru-chan." Jiraiya said while hugging her. "I understand; trust me that Tsunade won't insult sensei again. Now why don't you and Haku-chan go explore the city while I talk to Tsunade. Shizune, please go with them as well."

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama." Shizune said quickly before guiding the girls out of the room but not before glancing at Tsunade who was getting up from the floor. Once they were gone from the room Jiraiya helped Tsunade back into the chair.

"Well, that went well." He said sarcastically.

"Shut up Jiraiya." Tsunade said still feeling the aftereffects of that attack. "What the hell did she hit me with?"

"That was one of her original jutsu." Jiraiya said proudly. "She's been working on it for weeks. You should be honored, you're the first person she tried it on."

"Honored? I feel like I put my wet fingers into an electrical socket for fun." She answered.

"She's right though." Jiraiya said ignoring Tsunade's shocked face. "You're pathetic right now. Look at you Tsunade. You've become something that I know Dan and Nawaki wouldn't want."

"Don't you dare lecture me, Jiraiya." Tsunade snapped again. "And don't mention their names."

"I have every right to lecture you." Jiraiya argued calmly. "You're my teammate and I care for you. Seeing you like this breaks my heart and I'm sure that if they could see you now they would be sorely disappointed in you. You say everyone you loved and who loved you is gone but that's not true. I'm still here and I, even after all these years still love you. So does Sensei, he always asks after you when I visit Konoha. He's worried about you. Shizune is still here and we both know how much she loves you."

"That's not the same and you know it." Tsunade disagreed.

"No, it's not but that doesn't mean that our love for you isn't real or worth it." Jiraiya agreed. "Tsunade, you're destroying yourself and Dan and Nawaki would hate you for it. They wouldn't want this for you and you know it."

"Then what am I supposed to do Jiraiya?" Tsunade said. "Just forget about them and move on?"

"Of course not, none of us would ask you such a thing." Jiraiya answered. "Nobody could ask you to forget your little brother and lover like that. But maybe you could return to that Tsunade they adored and loved that much."

"That Tsunade died when they did." She sighed.

"No she didn't." Jiraiya smiled. "She just needs a little help to resurface again."

"Why was she so mad when I insulted sensei?" Tsunade asked curiously.

Jiraiya smiled and started explaining about Naruko youth and how she had only the Sandaime when growing up. He told her about the night Naruko was attacked by that passing merchant and how she was saved by Yuugao. He told her everything he knew about his goddaughter and how much he loved her. Tsunade was silently listening and understood why the blonde girl was so protective of her 'Ji-chan'. She didn't regret insulting him but she did regret attacking the girl. She continued listening to Jiraiya as he told her about Naruko.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruko, Haku and Shizune were walking around the city exploring the various stands and shops. Shizune was very wary of Naruko but she decided to give the girl a change. It didn't take really long for her to warm up to both girls. Naruko and Haku were very happy to meet her and Naruko had apologized for attacking her mentor.

"I'm sorry for attacking Tsunade-sama." Naruko admitted. "I just lost my cool when she kept insulting Ji-chan."

"It's okay." Shizune sighed. "You must really love the Sandaime a lot."

"Oh yeah, Ji-chan is the best. Isn't he Haku-chan?" Naruko nodded.

"He's great and really loves Naruko a lot." Haku nodded before she started explaining how she came to join Konoha a few months back. "He's really considerate and he cares deeply for everyone in the village. That alone should earn him enough respect."

"Please don't think too badly about Tsunade-sama." Shizune begged. "She's not all that bad but Konoha is sort of a weak spot to her. She lost her little brother and lover to the war and she feels like Konoha is responsible. She loved them so much and when they died she lost the will to live. I tried everything to get through to her but nothing worked."

"I'm sorry Shizune-san but that woman isn't the Tsunade we hoped to meet." Haku said gently. "You see, Naru-chan and I are aiming to become the best kunoichi ever and after hearing about Tsunade-sama from Jiraiya-sama, well we're kind of disappointed to be honest."

"I know but please try to understand." Shizune said. "She's a good person but she just lost right now."

"Well then, it's time someone bought her a map." Naruko said jokingly. "I'm sure Jiraiya-kyoufu will be able to talk to her."

The three of them then enjoyed the afternoon of walking around and talking while getting to know each other. Shizune told them of her adventures with Tsunade and how more often than not they lost a lot of money thanks to Tsunade's bad luck at gambling. She also introduced TonTon to them and both Haku and Naruko loved the cute little pig. Then it was the girl's turn to talk about their adventures and Shizune was very impressed with how they met and very happy for Haku and Naruko to have found a first best friend in each other. When the girls told her about their relationship, Shizune was surprised at first but she didn't say anything offensive and just congratulated the two of them.

* * *

At the hotel Jiraiya and Tsunade were talking about the past. Tsunade wasn't about to give that easily though and she told him that. Jiraiya laughed saying they had a few weeks to waste knowing that the attack was only in two and half months. Tsunade questioned him about his relationship with Naruko and she was very surprised to hear him say that he left behind the pervert in him when Naruko was with him.

"Why? You're a pervert and you've never been scared to show it." Tsunade said surprised.

"She's my goddaughter, Tsunade." Jiraiya smiled. "When I heard what happened to her and how she detests perverts, Sensei warned me. He said that if I wanted Naruko to trust and love me, I would have to suppress my perverted side. And I did so, willingly. She means more to me than you'll ever know. I'm so proud of her, she's the perfect mix of her parents."

"Minato and Kushina, huh?" Tsunade said thinking. "She resembles them a lot, doesn't she?"

"She sure does." Jiraiya chuckled. "She's as smart and strong as Minato was and as stubborn and passionate as Kushina. I have no doubt that she'll surpass them both."

"What about this Haku girl?" Tsunade wondered.

"Oh, Haku-chan is a joy to be around. She's gentle and kind but hurt Naruko and she'll become the Kyuubi incarnated." Jiraiya said. "She and Naruko are best friends, friendly rivals and lovers."

"Lovers? Really?" Tsunade said surprised. "And you're okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jiraiya said menacing. "She makes Naruko happier than I have ever seen. Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. I'm just surprised that's all." Tsunade quickly said not wanting to anger Jiraiya. "It's just that some people might have other opinions."

"I know but who cares about those people." Jiraiya snorted. "There are still people who believe Naruko to be the Kyuubi and all that. She's suffered a lot because of it but sensei was always there for her and now so are Yuugao, Anko, Haku and myself. I'll bet you anything that she could come to love you as well. All it takes is to be honest and respectful to those she loves."

"I don't think we well get along well." Tsunade said smiling sadly.

"Nonsense, just talk to her." Jiraiya chuckled. "You'll see, she's really a loving person and always ready to give someone a second chance if they honestly are sorry."

"I just can't go back there Jiraiya." Tsunade said softly. "That place haunts me in my dreams. I still see their faces and I still blame myself for not being able to save them."

"Tsunade, do you honestly think that they blame you for not being able to save them?" Jiraiya asked softly. "Or would they be sorry for the hurt their deaths caused you?"

"I-I don't k-know anymore." Tsunade said tearing up. "I-I don't k-know what I'm s-supposed to believe anymore."

"I'm sure that they still love you and that they're waiting for you to join them after you have lived your life to the fullest." Jiraiya said placing his hand on hers. "I'll bet you anything that when you join them, many years from now, they would be happy to know that their deaths didn't cause you so much grieve and misery. And I'm sure that they would want you to protect the Konoha they fought to protect. Make their dreams come true in their stead, Tsunade. Remember how much they loved you, how much they loved Konoha and I'm sure you'll be able to the right thing."

Tsunade closed her eyes and thought deeply about what she had been told by Naruko and Jiraiya. It sounded like the right thing but that didn't mean it was an easy thing to accept. Especcially after years of hating and cursing Konoha for taking away her loved ones. But slowly she remembered the good times she had with her Genin Team and Sarutobi-sensei; she remembered how her little brother had hugged her when she gave him the necklace of her great-grandfather; she remembered how Dan wanted to become Hokage so he could protect everyone in the village. Then to her horror, she started to see how she had treated the dreams of her loved ones, how she had trampled on their believes and hopes by becoming the person she was today. She realized that Naruko was right; they would be disappointed in her if they could see her.

"I've been such a fool, haven't I?" She said softly after opening her eyes.

"We all make mistakes, Tsunade." Jiraiya said encouragingly. "It's up to us to make them right while we have the chance."

Just then Shizune entered the room and asked if everything was okay. Jiraiya told her to come in and asked where Naruko and Haku were to which Shizune answered that they were still exploring the city just the two of them. She also commented about how cute she thought they were and how obvious it was that both of them were madly in love. Jiraiya nodded and left so he could book them a room for the next few days. When Jiraiya left, silence reigned until Tsunade grabbed Shizune in a hug and apologized for treating her so badly over the past few years. Shizune kindly held her mentor saying that all was forgiven and that it was in the past.

Tsunade then went to freshen her up a little before she left the room in search for Naruko and Haku. She wasn't completely ready to go back to Konoha just yet but she felt like she needed to apologize to them as well. She roamed the village for a bit and found the two girls sitting on a bench with Naruko laying her head on Haku's lap, both enjoying each other presence. It made Tsunade miss Dan even more as she remembered doing the exact same thing with him. She approached them and cleared her throat announcing her presence.

"Can I sit down?" She asked gently.

"I guess." Naruko sighed sitting up making room for the woman.

"I'd like to apologize for insulting sensei." Tsunade said to Naruko. "I know it was wrong to blame him for everything but it's just so easy, you know. After the war I needed to blame someone for the deaths of my brother and lover and sensei was the one who took the fall. I'm really sorry for insulting him."

"It's okay." Naruko said softly. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did anyway. I was out of line, so I apologize as well."

"No, you were right. What you said made me think about how I lived my life the past decade and I'm not very proud of myself right now." Tsunade admitted. "I should have realized that sooner but I miss them so much, it still hurts every day."

"We understand Tsunade-sama." Haku said. "It's not easy loosing people that are close to you."

"No, no it's not." Tsunade agreed. "I'm glad to have met you two. Jiraiya told me a lot about both of you and I wish we hadn't gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Well, you're still far from the Tsunade we've heard about but I'm willing to start anew." Naruko said putting out her hand.

"You're not going to shock me again are you?" Tsunade asked wearily before shaking it when Naruko laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, that was a onetime only thing." Naruko said grinning. "Except if you deserve it, then I'll shock you as much as you need."

"Geez, thanks for the heads up." Tsunade smirked.

The rest of the day was spend doing nothing but talking. Naruko and Haku had a thousand questions for Tsunade and the Sannin did her best to answer the most of them truthfully. There were some questions she refused to answer but only because they were too hard or too personal. This didn't bother the girls and they respected Tsunade's privacy by not insisting. Tsunade did tell lots about her time with Jiraiya during their Genin days and it proved to be a source of laughter when she corrected several of Jiraiya's stories. It seemed that the pervert had overplayed his worth in the team several times or that he refrained from mentioning some embarrassing moments. By the end of the day, Tsunade felt that she had been accepted by the girls and she felt happy for the first time in many years. It seemed a huge weight had dropped of her shoulders and she cursed herself for not realizing how wrong she was all those years ago.


	17. Chapter 17

Don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. Before you start reading I would like to wish each and everyone of you a happy new year and lots of happiness in life. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen:

The next day the group of five plus one pet pig made their way out of town and into a secluded area. Since they still had time before having to return to Konoha, Jiraiya decided that the girls should use the time to train under his and Tsunade's supervision. There was a second reason but he kept that one a secret until they arrived. Shizune had offered to teach the girls some medical Ninjutsu and Haku was especially interested.

"Alright team, we'll stay here for the next few weeks." Jiraiya announced. "Haku and Naruko, the two of you will work on your jutsu and maybe we'll use the time to get you some extra training by having you spar with me or Tsunade."

"You expect us to spar with you two?" Naruko said not believing what she had just heard. "That's crazy."

"Don't worry, Naruko. We'll fight at your level. It's just to give you some more experience in fighting a stronger opponent." Jiraiya assured them before turning to Tsunade. "Tsu-hime, you too need to get back into shape. I'm sure you're still strong enough to deal with powerful opponents but you're not at your best right now."

"Urgh, fine." Tsunade reluctantly agreed with him. She was aware that several years of hardly any training had done a lot of damage to her skills. She didn't need any training in the medical part but her Taijutsu and stamina had taken a big blow. The amount of sake she consumed over the years didn't help either.

"Shizune, I think you should train with the girls as well." Jiraiya said. "I know you're about Jounin level but it could never hurt to refresh and polish your techniques again."

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama." Shizune agreed.

"Okay, here's the schedule I've come up with." Jiraiya said giving each of them a scroll. "Mornings will be used to psychical training, Taijutsu and sparring. The afternoons will be for Ninjutsu and individual work. Naruko, how are you on the 'Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu'?"

"Well, I made some progress but not that much. It's still difficult to lengthen my hair beyond the length of the 'Hari Jizo no Jutsu' but I'm getting there." She said frustrated.

"Don't worry about. I'm sure you'll get it by the time we head back to Konoha." Jiraiya smiled. "How about you Haku?"

"I'm able to do the jutsu but it takes almost half of my chakra." Haku said thinking about the 'Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu". "I guess I need to increase my chakra reserves a bit before I could safely use it."

"Okay, we'll work on that as well." Jiraiya said nodding.

When they finally finished discussing the schedule they got to work. Jiraiya, though not really needing it, also did the exercises with them. By the time noon came, Naruko and Haku were exhausted. The amount of exercises that they had done with Yuugao and Anko was nothing compared to what they had done today. Their arms and legs felt like jelly and when Shizune finished cooking diner they attacked lunch like a pair of starved animals. Tsunade laughed loudly when she saw the two girls attack their lunch and she realized that this morning had been the best in a very long time. That didn't mean that she didn't enjoy Shizune's company in all those years that they wondered around Hi no Kuni but this was a whole new ball game. Being with friends and just having fun, that was what she had missed the most even if she didn't realize it until now.

"So Haku-chan, you said that you have a bloodline?" Shizune said interested.

"Yep, I have the Hyouton Kekkei Genkai." Haku nodded. "I'm capable of making Ice jutsu and use Ice to my advantage."

"Could you give us an example?" Tsunade asked her.

Haku nodded and made her sword out of ice and told them about its properties. Needless to say the two women were very impressed and Haku beamed with pride. Before she met Naruko, she had always been ashamed of her Kekkei Genkai but now she took pride in it and wasn't afraid to use it in battle. Before she only used it if it was absolutely necessary and even then she hated using it. After answering a few more questions it was time to start the afternoon training which was dedicated to Ninjutsu.

Naruko and Haku secluded themselves a bit as they had a few secret techniques that they wanted to keep hidden from Jiraiya and Tsunade. The techniques were still in their early stages but they had been working on them for weeks and now they finally started seeing some results. Naruko was working on a Raiton Ninjutsu now that her 'Raiton: Denkou Yoroi' had been completed. She had felt really good about that jutsu and Tsunade had vouched for its effectiveness. Her new jutsu however was nothing of the sort; it was a offensive jutsu and would without a doubt be her strongest attack so far. The only downside so far was that she needed way too time before she could use it. The amount of chakra that it required was enormous even for her and she was a bit scared of how much damage it could do. Nonetheless she kept working on it as something told her that she might need it sooner than later. She had learned to listen to her gut feeling over the years.

Haku too, was working on her jutsu. She wasn't working on a new one however. She was working on the jutsu that she had shown Yuugao just after they had discovered Mizuki talking to the other shinobi. She had made some progress and could now create a small mirror at a distance of two meter away from her. That was a huge improvement and she felt satisfied for a minute before realizing that she needed to do better than that. The speed of forming those mirrors was adequate and for now she focused on improving the distance in which she could make the mirrors. For a second she lost her concentration when she hear Naruko yelp out in pain when her jutsu backfired. She hurriedly went to see Naruko thinking she was hurt badly.

"Naru-chan, are you okay?" Haku asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine." Naruko said irritated while looking at the palms of her hands and her fingers. The Raiton Chakra had destroyed her gloves and severely burned them and it was very painful.

Jiraiya and Tsunade had noticed as well and had come over to see if everything was alright. When Tsunade saw Naruko's hands, she started shaking at the sight of the small amount of blood and burns. It wasn't all that bad a wound but even the slightest amount of blood was enough to make her tremble like a leaf. Shizune acted quickly and started healing the blonde's hands but to her surprise the healing went much faster than normal. When she inquired about it Naruko told her that she always had been a quick healer. Jiraiya added his thought saying that it was probably thanks to the Kyuubi before he turned to Tsunade.

"Are you okay, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked her. "You're shaking."

"I know. I can't help it." Tsunade said afraid. "Ever since Dan's death, blood has this effect on me. No matter how I try or what I do, I can't stop shaking."

"Hematophobia_?_" Jiraiya said shocked. "I would have never guessed that."

Tsunade nodded seeing the irony. The world's best Medic-Nin was afraid of blood, what a joke. This wasn't a joke however and it caused several problems. First of all, she wouldn't be able to treat any injuries if she was afraid and secondly it was a huge weakness. If someone found out, they could easily incapacitate her and kill her while she was in shock. Jiraiya frowned and he knew that they would need to get rid of this weakness.

"Alright, we'll try and work on that as well." He sighed loudly.

"How are you going to do that?" Haku asked quietly. This wasn't something that could be resolved in a few days.

"By desensitizing her slowly." Jiraiya answered. "We'll go slowly and hopefully by the time we need to get back, you'll be over your fear."

Tsunade nodded but she had little faith. It wasn't like she hadn't tried that before and then it hadn't worked. But that was when she was still depressed and feeling sorry of herself. Maybe this time it would work as she had a new view on life and she decided that this time she would succeed in getting over her fears. Now that she had decided to move on with her life it was time to put those silly fears behind her.

"There, all done." Shizune said after finishing Naruko's hands.

"Thanks Shizune-neechan. You're the best." Naruko said happily and she and Haku returned to their training.

"Those two are unstoppable when it comes to training aren't they?" Tsunade said with a small smile.

"Yeah, they have a good work ethic and aren't afraid to work hard to reach their dreams." Jiraiya nodded remembering saying the same thing to Yuugao and Anko.

* * *

The rest of the week went pretty fast with everyday being filled with training and practice. The three girls, Naruko, Haku and Shizune had improved a lot especially after they started sparring with each other. Shizune might give off an impression of a sweet gentle and caring girl but once the fight started she was downright vicious. She didn't held back and both Naruko and Haku had the bruises to prove it. Still, it was excellent training for them and they enjoyed every minute of it. Also, with Jiraiya's and Tsunade's help they had improved a lot on Ninjutsu and Chakra control training. Jiraiya had taught them each two more jutsu and Tsunade drilled Chakra control into them with fierce enthusiasm.

Speaking of Tsunade, she too had made some progress over the past week. Her body had started remembering how it was to train and to be a kunoichi and not just a Medic-Nin. It took lots of pain-relieving jutsu in the first few days as her muscles protested painfully but now she didn't have that problem anymore. On the subject of her hematophobia however there was still a lot of work to be done. She knew that the fear was only in her head and that she just needed to get over it but that was easier said than done. Still, she tried very hard and the rest of the group supported her every step of the way. Tsunade was convinced that she would beat this by the time they had to return to Konoha.

* * *

In Konoha, the Sandaime and his most trusted shinobi were still working on their plans for the counterattack against Suna and the newly founded Oto. It was now one month before the start of the Chuunin exams and the plan had started taking shape. Both villages had send the paperwork which included the number of teams that would participate in the exams. Like expected both villages had entered a sufficient amount of Genin so that they would have troops inside the village that might stall and buy time for the other troops to invade Konoha. The Sandaime had foreseen this approach and knew exactly how to deal with it. He would order several ANBU to take post in the Forest of Death and they would dispose of half of the teams. Danzo complained at first saying that they should eliminate all of the teams but that was refused by the Sandaime. Eliminating all the teams would only raise suspicion and then might alert Suna and Oto.

The first and second tasks had already been determined by Ibiki and Anko. The first would be a psychological test while the second one would be combat oriented. Both tasks had as purpose to weed out those unfitted for Chuunin duty and reducing the number of enemy shinobi. There were however several teams that needed to be monitored. First was the team with the children of the Kazekage; if something happened to them it might trigger the attack sooner so they were to be left alone during the second task. Another team was Team 7 from Konoha which had Uchiha Sasuke as a member. The reason was that the Sandaime knew of Orochimaru's fascination with the Sharingan and him gaining it had to be prevented at all costs. Therefore an ANBU team would be assigned to protect them in case of an attack. They weren't allowed to interfere unless Team 7 was attacked by Orochimaru or in danger of being captured by one of his men. Otherwise Team 7 was on their own just like any other team.

Sarutobi had received a message from Jiraiya saying that they had found Tsunade and that they had managed to convince her to help out with the wounded. The old man was happy that his wayward pupil had picked herself up from the slump she was in and he knew that he made the right decision in sending Naruko and Haku. He was a bit disappointed in Tsunade when he read Jiraiya's assessment of her skills but he was glad that she started training again. While he knew that it would take much longer than a few months for her to return to her former glory, he knew she would be combat ready by the time of the invasion. When he read about the technique Naruko used to subdue Tsunade he felt pride in his adoptive granddaughter. She always managed to surprise him and he wouldn't want it any other way.

"Show them what you've got, Naru-chan." The Sandaime said while looking at the stone face of her father. "You two would be so proud of her."

* * *

The next month went very fast for Naruko and the gang. Each day they trained until exhaustion and the results were visible. Both Naruko and Haku had made some serious progress in their techniques and their physical abilities. Thanks to daily spars with either Jiraiya or Tsunade, the girls had gained a lot of experience in fighting stronger opponents and their Taijutsu had gone through the roof. In Ninjutsu training they each learned several new techniques or had perfected the ones they had started learning since they left with Jiraiya. Thanks to Tsunade and Shizune, Haku had learned several Medical Jutsu that could come in handy one day. Naruko, on the other had no talent in the Healing art and was severely put out from it until Jiraiya started teaching her a bit about seals. Knowing that her father was very talented in seals, the Hiraishin and the sealing of the Kyuubi as proof, she had absorbed the lessons like a sponge absorbed water.

The biggest and perhaps the most important thing they had managed to do was a variation of Tsunade's 'Ninpou: Souzousaisei'. One night Naruko had commented on the small dot on Tsunade's forehead which had lead the Sannin to explain that it wasn't just a dot but a complex seal where she gathered and stored chakra. That chakra could then be released to completely heal any kind of wounds that she might have. There was a downside to the jutsu however as it wasn't just healing that she did but rather regeneration and that shortened her lifespan each time she used it. That explained why she was so reluctant to use it.

Naruko however had been very interested in the concept of storing chakra for later use and she and Haku had started brainstorming like they always did. The result of that session of brainstorming was the idea of a seal that stored chakra and could be released when one had used up most of their chakra. They had told Jiraiya their idea and he liked it but said that he didn't know of a seal like that. Seeing their disappointment he quickly added that just because there wasn't such a seal as of this moment, it didn't mean that they couldn't create it. So over the past month the two girls worked on the seal, with help from Jiraiya of course, until they finally got it right. It took a few failed attempts but in the end they managed to do it. Just like Tsunade they created the seal on their forehead, hidden by their head protector and had been storing Chakra inside it ever since. As it had no other purpose, there were no setbacks or downsides to the seal and it was completely safe to use it. When they released it for the first time it resembled Tsunade's 'Ninpou: Souzousaisei' in that it created a pattern on their faces. The seal worked perfectly and though they would need at least a month to gather the necessary chakra if they wanted to fully replenish their reserves it was a good backup in their eyes.

"Hey girls, what are you two up to?" Jiraiya asked them.

"Oh not much, we were just wondering when we would return to Konoha?" Naruko responded.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it as well." Jiraiya admitted. "The exams should begin any day now and while the invasion won't be until next month I think it would be best if we head back to Konoha."

"Shizune and I won't come now." Tsunade interjected. "If Orochimaru learns of our return he might pull some unexpected moves. We'll arrive the day before the third part of the exam. That way he won't know that we're there until the attack. I've written some instructions for sensei that he needs to deal with. Mostly making sure that we have enough medical supplies and the likes."

"Alright, I'll send him a message saying that the two of you will be returning in two weeks." Jiraiya said.

"Huh? Don't you come as well?" Naruko asked surprised.

"No, remember you two left with a Kage Bunshin disguised as Yuugao for a mission." Jiraiya explained. "Therefore you need to return with Yuugao as well, otherwise people would start asking questions."

Naruko nodded in understanding and watched as Jiraiya summoned Gamakichi and told him to deliver the scroll to the Sandaime. Once the little toad was gone they resumed training, hoping to learn a new jutsu before they had to leave for Konoha. Jiraiya however refused to teach them a new jutsu saying that they should take this time to master their other jutsu. The two girls agreed with some protests but in the end they accepted his reasoning and got to work.

Meanwhile Tsunade was working hard on conquering her fear of blood. She had made some results and while it was still far from conquered she now at least could function when she saw blood. She still refused, or rather was incapable, to get close to blood to treat injuries or wounds. Still, it had been a large improvement compared to last month. Shizune had been so proud and happy that she had bought two large bottles of sake to celebrate the success. That alone was enough encouragement for Tsunade to work hard. She had been surprised though as Shizune always complained about the amount of sake she drank a day.

* * *

Meanwhile in Konoha the second task had just started. The first task had eliminated a lot of teams thanks to Ibiki's test but there were still a lot of teams that managed to pass. As by miracle, all the rookie Genin teams of Konoha had managed to pass as well though it had been close for some of them. Now the second task had started and Orochimaru thought it was time to make his move. For years he had wanted to get his hands on the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai but never managed to grab one. When he was still in Konoha, it was just too dangerous to kidnap an Uchiha and at that time he still hadn't perfected his immortality jutsu.

When he did finished it, Uchiha Itachi had thwarted his plans by slaughtering his entire clan except his little brother. Oh, he still remembered the tantrum he had thrown that day. So in his foolishness he had approached Itachi to get the Sharingan but that plan had backfired as well. Itachi defeated him with little trouble and he barely got away alive. The severed hand that was kept in a jar in his personal chambers were a testament of that defeat. So he had started focusing on the other remaining Uchiha but at the time he was still a little boy so he was of no use to him. Now however the time had come to claim his prize for years of patience.

Oh, he had such great plans for when he acquired the Sharingan. Once he had the Kekkei Genkai in his possession, nobody would be able to prevent him from becoming the ultimate shinobi. After the first exam he quickly killed a team from Ame and took their place. Nobody had noticed anything, not even Anko who was proctor of the exam. He had quickly noticed the ANBU that were spread out in the Forest of Death and cursed quietly. While a few pesky ANBU were not a problem, they would make sure that the entire village was alerted if he made his presence known. He made his way towards Sasuke but instantly noticed the ANBU guarding them. He cursed once more and berated himself for underestimating the desire of his sensei's advisors to keep the Sharingan alive. No doubt they were there to ensure nothing happened to Sasuke in order to protect the Sharingan.

Those fools always were too focused on the Kekkei Genkai but to give him a full platoon of ANBU to protect him seemed a lot even to him. Knowing that he would never get to Sasuke without the ANBU noticing and alerting the Sandaime, Orochimaru deemed it necessary to abort the mission. Grumbling he retreated quickly before the ANBU sensed him. He would have to find another way to get the Uchiha. It might take some time but he was patient. He could wait a few more weeks, months or years thanks to his jutsu. Orochimaru quickly exited the Forest of Death planning to make sure he would be present for when the teams reached the tower.

* * *

Five days later it was finally that time. Out of the twenty something teams only 7 or 8 teams remained. Surprisingly, all the rookies of Konoha had managed to pass the Forest of Death and Orochimaru was already drooling at the sight of Uchiha Sasuke. Yes, he could see a lot of talent in that boy. Perhaps even enough to surpass Itachi. With detachment he listened how the Sandaime explained the reason for the Chuunin exams and how that sickly Jounin explained the concepts of the preliminaries. He didn't really care about seeing the other Genin as they weren't worth his trouble. Only Sasuke was worthy of attention and when he saw how easily the Uchiha dealt with his opponent he could only grin in anticipation. For now though he retreated knowing that he would get his hands on the Uchiha soon enough. Once Konoha had been destroyed it would be easy to convince the Uchiha to join up with him.

The Sandaime sighed as he looked out the window. The preliminaries had been about a week ago and he waited for Naruko and Haku to arrive. They should arrive any moment now according to the scroll Jiraiya had send with Gamakichi. When he heard someone knocking on his door he called them inside and smiled when he saw his adoptive granddaughter and her girlfriend enter his office. He noticed that they looked stronger than when they left and he thanked Jiraiya and Tsunade for that.

"Naru-chan, Haku-chan it's so good to have you back inside the village." Sandaime said smiling.

"It's good to be back, ji-chan." Naruko smiled back. "Did we miss anything?"

"Not much." The Sandaime said quickly. "The first exam went flawlessly. Ibiki scared a lot of Genin out of the exam. The second part was more complicated but went as well as we could have hoped. All of your former classmates made it through the second exam and some of them managed to get into the final part."

"Really?" Naruko said surprised. She was a bit shocked that they all managed to get that far.

"Yes. There were some causalities however." The Sandaime said gravely. "Rock Lee was seriously injured during his fight with Sabaku no Gaara. The doctors fear that he might never recover from his injuries. Hyuuga Hinata was also injured by Hyuuga Neji during their fight."

"Lee-san got hurt?" Haku said amazed. She and Naruko knew just how hard the boy trained and they had a pretty good idea just how strong he was.

"Yes, Gaara was definitely the stronger shinobi." The Sandaime said remembering the fight. "Lee did manage to impress everyone with his Taijutsu and his speed. Gaara however had control over sand and used it to crush Lee's arm and leg. It was very impressive but there's something about that boy that unsettles me."

"He used sand?" Naruko asked. "Is it a Kekkei Genkai?"

"I honestly don't know." The Sandaime answered. "But enough about that. Tell me about Tsunade."

Naruko and Haku explained their entire trip until their return and the Sandaime was very impressed. Though he had received a few report from Jiraiya, the girls gave a much more detailed report and it cleared out the missing details. He especially liked the part where Naruko 'shocked' Tsunade sober with her 'Raiton: Denkou Yoroi'. When they mentioned how well they got along with Shizune and Tsunade after the few first days, the Sandaime's heart soared in happiness. He knew just how much Naruko cared for him but he also knew that the invasion and stopping Orochimaru could and would require him to take a few risks. Alas, he feared that he didn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to protect Konoha he would have to put his life on the line. He only hoped that Naruko would forgive him if something happened to him and that she would move on with her life.

After another hour of telling what happened with Jiraiya and Tsunade, Haku and Naruko bid their goodbyes and returned home eager to get some rest. Once home they were welcomed back with some bone-breaking hugs from Yuugao and Anko and after giving a quick summary and a promise to tell everything in detail the next day, the girls went to bed. They snuggled close to each other, enjoying the warmth that their lover provided and the feeling of bare skin on bare skin. It didn't take long for the two kunoichi to drift off to sleep, both with a content smile on their faces.


	18. Chapter 18

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. So sorry for the 1 day delay. I only got home late last night and didn't have the strength to put it online at that hour. I had a teambuilding experience weekend with work so I was exhausted. A whole weekend of activities during the day and drinking and eating in the evening. Never been so tired in my life lol. Anyway enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Last few weeks of peace

The following day Naruko woke up feeling very relaxed in the arms of her lover. Snuggling a bit closer, careful not to wake Haku up, she inhaled the scent of wildflowers and ice coming from that beautiful shaped body. Knowing that Haku would soon wake up, as she too was used to their schedule, she did her best to memorize every inch of Haku's body. She was captivated with it and she could stare at it for hours without end, marveling at the beauty that was Haku.

Haku felt Naruko press her body closer to hers and she reveled in it. It was her favorite part of the day, waking up with Naruko holding her closely or her holding Naruko was addicting. She wondered often how she had been able to sleep before. She slowly opened her eyes only to see Naruko's beautiful blue eyes staring straight at her, rapt with fascination and devotion. It was enough for Haku to be unable to resist kissing her. She grabbed Naruko's head in her hands and brought their lips together. Naruko didn't waste any time and eagerly kissed back, pressing her body even closer. They moaned in pleasure when they felt their soft skin make contact and the heat in the room seemed to skyrocket. When Naruko licked Haku's lip with her tongue, she readily gave her access and soon their tongues were battling for domination. When they couldn't hold their breath any longer they broke off the kiss, both with flushed faces and breathing heavily.

"Good morning Naru-chan." Haku smiled gently.

"You too, Haku-chan." Naruko smirked before attacking her lover once more. Naruko climbed on top of Haku and sat down on her legs and started kissing again. Haku let out a small giggle but didn't put on a struggle, submitting to her blonde lover.

Naruko kissed Haku's lips for a few seconds before she moved on the her cheek and ended with nibbling on Haku's earlobe, earning a moan of pleasure. Naruko knew that she was very sensitive there. She then moved on to her neck and sucked the skin lightly. Hard enough to earn a groan but not enough to break the skin and advertise to the world what they had been doing. Meanwhile, her hands were making their way to Haku's chest where they found their destination. She gently rubbed and kneaded Haku's mounds before moving to the erect nipple, which were proof of Haku's excitement.

"Naru-chan." Haku breathed deeply.

Naruko ignored her and continued her ministrations with loving care not missing any of Haku's sensitive spots. Soon her mouth had found the sensitive nipples and she quickly latched onto one of them, sucking and biting it gently. Haku was whimpering in pleasure and begged Naruko not to stop. Naruko had no intention of stopping and suddenly Naruko's hips started to move as well. She rolled them over Haku's right leg and she groaned loudly when the sensation of extreme pleasure hit her. Naruko was feeling very hot in her stomach and she absolutely loved the feeling. Haku felt Naruko's hips moving over her leg and she raised it to give Naruko better access. Haku, tired of not touching her lover, raised her hands and put one hand on Naruko's well shaped ass and the other one make its way to her blonde hair.

Naruko couldn't take much more and when she felt like the world exploded inside her she moaned loudly and her body shook from the intense feeling. Haku looked lovingly at Naruko and she kissed her quickly to silence her a bit. When Naruko finally came down from cloud nine, she smiled shyly at Haku with a small blush on her face.

"H-Haku-chan, that w-was unbelievable." She admitted. "That was so much better than before."

"R-really? Maybe I should try it too then?" Haku said flipping Naruko beneath her with a smirk.

"Definitely." Naruko smiled before she kissed the girl.

Haku, who was already hot and bothered from Naruko's actions before didn't need to be told twice and she sat down on Naruko's leg, just like she had done only moments ago. Slowly, she started to move her hips back and forth, enjoying the feel. Naruko, wasn't about to just lie there and let her girlfriend do all the work so she raised her arms and started rubbing Haku's breasts, earning a moan from Haku. Said girl was currently somewhere between earth and cloud nine, already feeling the heat gather in her abdomen. She sped up a bit, wanting to experience the climax Naruko had had. Together with Naruko's help she quickly reached her peak and she bit down on her bottom lip hard, just to avoid screaming herself hoarse when the orgasm hit her. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Naruko looking at her with a huge smile on her face.

"Well?" Naruko wanted to know.

"A-Amazing." She managed to say. "Never felt anything like it."

They snuggled closer and stayed in bed for a while before they decided to get up and get ready for the day. While Naruko was showering, Haku changed the sheets and started making breakfast. After they both had breakfast and showered they stayed a while to talk to Anko and Yuugao who wanted to know everything about their past months. They were very impressed with the girls and how they had managed to convince Tsunade. Both girls refused to show or reveal anything about any new jutsu they had learned or created. Anko was trying to blackmail them into telling but Yuugao calmed her down saying that once they saw the jutsu it would much more impressive. Anko relented but clearly had trouble containing her curiosity.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Yuugao said trying to change the subject.

"Well, Ji-chan said that Lee-kun and Hinata were injured during their matches so we thought to pay them a visit." Naruko said thinking.

"Ah yes, Lee was heavily injured and the doctors fear that his career as a shinobi is over." Anko said remembering the fight. "That Gaara did a real number on him. Though Lee gave a brilliant show of his skill, he impressed many of the Jounin present."

"Hinata was released a few days ago." Yuugao added. "Her cousin hurt her badly but nothing too severe. Kurenai said that she would have to take it easy for a few more weeks though."

"Poor Lee-kun, are they sure that it's that bad?" Haku asked concerned for her friend.

"Honestly, we don't know the extent of his injuries but from what Gai said, it's pretty bad." Anko nodded. "And when Gai says it's bad…."

The four women stayed silent for a while contemplation what Anko had just said. It was true that Gai always saw things as a challenge or on the bright side, it was who he was. For him to be sad and pessimistic must mean that it was really bad. Naruko and Haku vowed to visit Lee straight away to get to the bottom of things. When Yuugao and Anko said that they had to get ready for the day, the two girls promised to meet up later in the training fields. There were two weeks remaining before the third part of the Chuunin exams and the second week would be spend by doing some light training and relaxing for the invasion. The first week would still be heavy training.

* * *

It didn't take very long to reach the hospital and to ask in which room Lee was admitted. The nurse at the reception told them that they were very kind to visit the poor boy as he had little or no visitors outside his sensei and his female teammate. Naruko and Haku felt very sorry for the spandex wearing Taijutsu user and promised the nurse that they would visit him every few days for as long as he was in the hospital. They quickly bought him a fruit basket, knowing that he would need the vitamins to get better. When they entered the room however they noticed someone standing over Lee's bed and they were instantly on alert. The person wore a giant gourd on his back and sand was pouring out of it and making its way towards Lee. They realized that this was the young boy that injured Lee so badly and the one that the Sandaime was so weary of. Haku dropped the fruit basked and made a few handseals making ice form underneath the sand using shinobi and encased him up to his chest, immobilizing him. Naruko sped forward and punched the guy with her Raiton chakra induced fist, breaking the ice and sending him into the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruko said furious. Haku stood next to her lover, ready to act if necessary.

"You hit me." Gaara said surprised. "Mother wants your blood."

"Your mother?" Naruko asked perplexed. "And why were you attacking Lee?"

"Yes mother, I will give you their blood." Gaara said to nobody before turning to Naruko. "He's my prey. I defeated him so now I'll kill him."

"He's hurt and yet you still want to kill him?" Haku asked narrowing her eyes. "What do you gain from his death?"

"Killing him will prove my existence." Gaara said calmly. "I don't need any other reason."

"What are you? Some psychopath or something?" Naruko mad. "How does killing prove your existence?"

"Psychopath? Some people call me that." Gaara answered. "Or they call me a monster after the one that's sealed inside me. For years people hated me, tried to kill me or ignored me. I'm alone and I needed a purpose in life. So I asked myself one question. What makes people acknowledge me? The answer was simple. When I kill, people see me. They can't ignore me, they fear me and they're scared of what I might do next. That's why I decided that I would kill anyone that I want."

"You're a Jinchuuriki." Naruko said so softly that only Haku heard it.

"Even my dad tried to kill me by hiring assassins." Gaara continued. "But they never succeeded so he gave up in the end. I was supposed to be Suna's secret weapon but they started to fear my power so that's why they tried to get rid of me."

"Look, you don't have to do this." Naruko pleaded feeling for the young man in front of her. She realized that if she didn't have her ji-chan, the one that protected her, she would likely have met the same faith. He told her that Danzo wanted her to become a weapon but that he refused to accept that. Once more she thanked the Sandaime for being there for her.

"No, mother desires your blood." Gaara said looking menacing at both Haku and Naruko. "I can't deny her what she wants."

Gaara raised his arms and sand started to raise and he was about to attack when Gai entered the room and told Gaara to get lost. Gaara remembered the Jounin who had stopped him from killing his prey during the preliminaries but strangely enough he didn't protest and calmly left the room but not before looking back at Naruko and Haku who stared back at him unafraid. When he finally left, they allowed themselves to relax.

"Thank you for saving Lee." Gai said gratefully. "I shudder to imagine what might have happened if you two hadn't been here."

"Don't worry about it Gai-sensei." Naruko smiled. "We're glad we were here too. How are Lee's injuries?"

"Lee's injuries are rather bad." Gai sighed loudly all trace of his usual boisterous behavior gone. "The medic-nin said that he had major damage to his leg and spinal cord. They're confident that his leg will heal completely but his back will never heal completely. It means the end of Lee's career."

"Poor Lee. He tried and trained so hard and now this." Haku said softly.

"Gai-sensei, don't give up." Naruko said suddenly. "In a few weeks there might be someone here that might be able to help him."

"What do you mean Naruko-san?" Gai said quickly.

"Remember the mission Ji-chan gave us a few weeks ago." Naruko said cryptically. She knew not to mention any names in the hospital as you never knew who was listening in. She knew Gai was present when the Sandaime told them about how they would travel with Jiraiya to find Tsunade. When she saw Gai's face light up, she knew that he understood what she meant. Luckily, Gai was professional enough not to announce it to the whole hospital but she could see that he had regained hope. Hope that his pupil would be okay and be able to continue his career.

* * *

The girls remained a bit longer but seeing that Lee showed no signs of waking up, they asked Gai to say that they passed by and that they would visit again soon. They hurried outside and raced towards the Hokage tower to inform the Sandaime what they had learned about Gaara. They stormed inside, almost toppling over the secretary who was carrying a lot of papers, and entered the office. Luckily, the Sandaime was alone doing some paperwork. He looked up and noticed that whatever they had to say had spooked them.

"Naru-chan, Haku-chan what's the matter?" He asked concerned.

"Ji-chan, we found out something huge." Naruko breathed deeply. "About Gaara."

"The Kazekage's son?" Sarutobi nodded. 'What could they have found out that warranted such panic?'

"Yeah, we just met him in the hospital where he tried to kill Lee." Haku said. "We stopped him though but he told us something very disturbing."

"Ji-chan, he's like me." Naruko said sadly. This made the Sandaime look very distressed and he told them to tell them everything they had found out. When they finished their story, he was furious at the Kazekage.

"Damn that man." He cursed. "To submit his own son to a fate like that only so he could have a weapon. Has he no honor? No wonder the boy is so messed up. To be submitted to that kind of life at such a young age would turn everyone into a psychopath."

"What are we going to do?" Naruko asked. "It obvious they want to use him in the invasion."

"I know Naru-chan." The Sandaime sighed. "We can't do anything about it now. If we made a move at him right now, Orochimaru would know something is wrong. We were lucky enough he didn't suspect anything was off when he noticed the ANBU squad protecting the Uchiha. We can't risk alerting him so close to actual invasion. There's no telling what he might do."

"What are the powers of a Jinchuuriki, Hokage-sama?" Haku wanted to know.

"We don't really know, Haku-chan." The old man answered. "There are stories and rumors that Jinchuuriki are capable of many things but there's no actual proof of anything. Some say that they gain the powers of the Bijuu their holding. The only thing that's sure is that most Jinchuuriki are seen as weapons by their village and treated coldly by others. It's no surprise that Gaara was hated for being who he was. Even Naru-chan here has had to deal with an amount of hatred or dislike from the villagers and fellow shinobi."

"But thanks to you, nobody ever hurt me." Naruko said giving the man a fierce hug. "If you hadn't been there for me, I could have become like Gaara. So thanks ji-chan."

"You're welcome Naru-chan." The Sandaime smiled returning the hug. "I couldn't let my granddaughter grow up like that, now could I?"

"Nope." Naruko grinned broadly.

"Okay, I'll alert the Jounin sensei and everyone who knows about the invasion about Gaara." The Sandaime said getting back to business. "We'll deal with him during the attack. Oh by the way, I was meaning to ask you something Naru-chan."

"Me? Sure, whatever you need." Naruko said wondering what he wanted.

"Yuugao told me about how you're capable of making several dozen of Kage Bunshin and keep them for a long time." The Sandaime said. "Would you be willing, and capable of course, to create enough Kage Bunshin to replace several ANBU teams? I'm asking because that way the real ANBU can catch the attackers by surprise."

"Would they need to fight or just be present until the invasion starts?" Naruko asked thinking. "Because if they just have to sit there, no problem. But if they have to fight and distract I'm going to have to put way more chakra inside them."

"No, they just have to be present." The Sandaime explained. "You could create them an hour before the exams starts and place them in the crowd. That way Suna and Oto would think that they're standard protection for the noble ones. The real ANBU will be disguised as simple civilians or low ranked shinobi. With your Kage Bunshin visible to many, it would take away the attention from those sitting in the crowd."

"Sure, I can manage that. No worries." Naruko said confidently. "Just let me know when and where to make them."

"Great, I'll come find you and Haku-chan a few hours before the start of the exam." The Sandaime said.

The girls nodded and told him that they had to go. As the Sandaime had a lot of work needed to be done, he quickly dismissed them before getting back to work. He still had to make his affairs in order in case he didn't survive the invasion. He knew that when Orochimaru was involved he needed to make sure his loved one would be taken care of just in case. He hoped it wouldn't come to that but he didn't dare not consider it. He wasn't getting any younger and fighting his former pupil could well be his final fight. He would do anything in his power to defeat him and survive but sadly things don't always work out the way one hoped.

His will had been adjusted and taken care of. His family would receive their part of his accounts in Konoha Bank but he also set apart a small something for Naruko and Haku. They were after all some of the people he loved the most. Knowing their love for new jutsu he planned to give them all the scrolls in his personal library and a small amount of money to get them started in life. He would do the same thing if he survived and the girls were starting their life together. He wasn't concerned about Asuma or Konohamaru protesting the donation of scrolls as the Sarutobi Family library held more than enough scrolls.

He then thought about what he needed to do for Konoha. Obviously he had to appoint a successor and that was the problem. Danzo wouldn't get his recommendation no matter how much he begged for it so he needed to find other candidates. His first guess was Jiraiya but he knew that the man was more valuable as an information gatherer. His second guess was Tsunade; before he heard how much she had changed in the past month with Haku and Naruko he wouldn't consider her but now he could see her as the leader of Konoha. Sure, she was a little rough around the edges but her heart was in the right place and she could be stubborn as a mule, which was a good thing when it come to deal with his advisors. Also, people loved her as they all knew just how talented she was in the healing art. That and the fact that she was practically royalty considering she had the blood of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage flowing in her veins. He was sure that she would be accepted as the Godaime Hokage if he appointed her. Now the only thing that he needed to do was convince her to take the job.

* * *

Meanwhile Naruko and Haku were headed to the training field. On their way they encounter Team 8 with Kurenai, who seemed to return from training judging but the sweaty Kiba and Shino. Hinata seemed still injured as she moved sluggishly and Kurenai held back just in case she needed to support the poor girl. When they noticed Naruko and Haku coming in from the other direction, they called them over to talk a bit.

"Hey Naruko-chan, Haku-chan, how are things?" Kurenai asked smiling.

"Hello Kurenai-sensei, things are great, thank you for asking." Haku said politely. "How is team 8?"

"My team is doing very good so far." Kurenai said proudly. "Both Shino and Kiba managed to place themselves for the third part of the Chuunin exams. And Hinata here did a great job against Neji."

"I see, congratulations to all three of you." Naruko congratulated them.

"Hey, how come you two didn't enter the exams?" Kiba asked suddenly.

"Haku-chan and I didn't feel like competing at this time." Naruko said. "Besides, we were on a high B ranked mission for a few weeks. It was the same time as the start of the exams."

"A high B-ranked mission?" Kurenai said playing along as she knew what the girls had been doing. "That's very impressive."

"Thank you but we couldn't have done it without Yuugao-sensei." Haku answered. "Still, we weren't really interested to advance to the next level yet."

"Too bad, I would have loved to fight you." Kiba said aimed at Haku.

"Well, then you should count yourself lucky dog boy." Naruko said menacingly. "Haku-chan would have wiped the floor with you."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I could handle her." Kiba said trying to defend himself.

"Now Kiba-kun, I'm sure Naruko-san didn't mean it like that." Hinata said trying to calm her teammate before he said something stupid again.

"Well, I think we need to get going." Kurenai said. "We still have a lot of work to do. It was great seeing you two again."

"Likewise, Kurenai-sensei and Team 8." Haku said grabbing Naruko's hand and started to walk away and Naruko followed, forgetting all about Kiba and Team 8."

When they reached the training ground, Yuugao and Anko were already waiting for them. They apologized for being late explaining that they had went to see the Hokage for some important discussion. Yuugao nodded seeing that the girls didn't want to talk about it in the open and that they would tell them about it later that evening in the safety of their home. Leaving that conversation for later on, Yuugao decided to test out Naruko and Haku after they had trained with two Sannin for over a month. The girls showed their progress with the jutsu that they were willing to show. For Naruko that was the 'Raiton: Denkou Yoroi', which greatly impressed Yuugao and Anko. Haku showed them how she was now able to create her portal ice-mirrors, which she could now create at a reasonable distance away from the target.

Then they had the girls spar against both of them. The difference between a Sannin and a Jounin was big but it became very clear to both girls just how much Jiraiya and Tsunade had held back during their spars. Still, Yuugao noticed great progress in both girls and this pleased her greatly. She was now sure that the girls would be able to defend themselves against Jounin level opponents long enough for help to arrive or get away. If they teamed up however, they would have no problem defeating any enemy of Jounin level. Obviously, their training with the Sannin duo had some great results. Yuugao then told the girls that as it was only two weeks away from the start of the invasion, they would take training slowly. They would work on simple things like staying in good shape and practicing jutsu they already learned. The last week they would keep the training to a minimum, just do the daily exercises in the morning. She also explained that they would have to be present at several meetings during those two weeks so that they would learn of their task during the invasion.

* * *

Later that night, the girls told their sisters what they had learned about Gaara and how he tried to kill Lee. Needless to say the women were shocked that a Jinchuuriki was going to be present at the invasion. Both of them had heard about the powers of a Jinchuuriki but since Naruko never showed any special powers they hadn't paid much attention to it. Sure, Naruko healed fast and had large reserves which could be attributed to being a Jinchuuriki but nothing like Gaara's control over sand. They hoped that Gaara still had to learn to control his demon otherwise they would be in serious trouble. Knowing that they couldn't do anything about it now, the foursome relax and happily spend some time together.


	19. Chapter 19

I don' own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. First of all, I need to apologize for the lack of update last time. It has been somewhat hectic in my life. Work keeps me from writing and my father was diagnosed with the early stages of cancer. Luckily it was discovered early enough so he has an excellent chance of beating it but let me tell, it was quite a rude awakening when we were told that he has cancer.

The emotional stress of it all caught up with me and my family a few days after and it still hasn't completely sunken in. Yet, we are very optimistic and I knew my father will beat this. It's somewhat terrifying just how many people have to deal with this terrible disease. The doctor said that one out of every three people will get confronted with cancer in one way or the other. That's mind blowing if you think about it.

Anyway enough with the emotional part. I hope you guys like the chapter and let me know what you thought about it Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Last days of peace

The days went fairly quick for everyone who was aware of the coming invasion. Everyone went on with their last minute preparations or training. Haku and Naruko were no exception as they trained harder than everyone else. They wanted to prove to their sisters and to the Sandaime that they were ready for the responsibility of being a Chuunin. While they knew that they were promoted for the right reasons, they still felt the need to show everyone that they had earned the position fair and square.

The last week they had been training very hard but this week would be a relaxing week. They would use this week to gather their forces and prepare for the battle. Yuugao and Anko had been very surprised but proud of the progress the two girls had made over the past few months. Not many would be able to do what they had done. They had been put through a very hard training regime and not once had they complained about it. It took a very strong person to deal with the training they had done and Yuugao and Anko were the first to admit that even they would have had trouble succeeding at that age.

Training wasn't the only thing they did during that week. They had several meetings with the Sandaime and the Jounin concerning the attack and what role they would have to play. The Sandaime had explained to the rest that Naruko would provide enough Kage Bunshin to cover the ANBU squads that were expected in the arena. It had taken Naruko to fill the room with clones to prove that she was capable of said feat. The few Jounin who doubted her stared at the number of clones that Naruko was capable of making without showing any sign of exhaustion. After that no-one doubted that Naruko and Haku were worthy of being Chuunin. The Sandaime then assigned each of them a task during the invasion.

The head of ANBU was to select only those he trusted with the life of his children and inform them of the invasion and that they would be replaced by clones one hour before the start of the invasion. Then they were to disguise themselves as civilians and low level shinobi to fool the attackers. Once the attackers started the invasion, they would take them by surprise and dispose of the enemies inside the stadium before clearing out the area around it. One squad of ANBU was positioned at the Academy to deal with Mizuki and protecting the students.

The Jounin were to stall the invaders coming from outside the village. Naruko was assigned to this group as she was needed to deal with the snake summons that Orochimaru was surely going to use. Jiraiya would take one side of the village, while Naruko took the other. Haku was to help with Yuugao and Anko with evacuating the nobles and civilians that filled the stadium. Getting nobles killed was bad advertisement and was to be prevented at all cost. Meanwhile, Genin and Chuunin would deal with the evacuation of the village and once they were done with that they would help where ever needed. Their first concern however was the protection of the innocents and eventual wounded.

The Sandaime explained also that there would be three teams of Chuunin that would transport the wounded and fallen shinobi to the hospital where Tsunade and Shizune would be stationed. They would lead a team of medics, ready to treat those that needed treatment. The Jounin sensei of the Genin that were participating in the exam would have to decide on their orders for their Genin judging by the situation. If possible they were expected to help in the evacuation or help in any way possible. The Sandaime clearly instructed them that there was no place for heroics during the invasion and that the Genin weren't above following orders. He didn't want to inform parents the next day that their child had died an unnecessary death because he or she wanted to prove his skills only to get killed.

* * *

Right now however Naruko and Haku were enjoying a nice bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's. Ayame and Teuchi were glad to have the girls back in the village as it meant that their profits were marginally larger than usual. Ayame however just enjoyed their company and she always had great stories to tell the girls. Suddenly a new customer arrived and sat down next to Haku who looked up from her bowl of ramen only to see Haruno Sakura staring at her.

"Can we help you Sakura-san?" Haku asked politely.

"Yes, you could start by explaining why you two weren't at the Chuunin exams." Sakura said angry. "I wanted to show that I too, can be a true kunoichi of the Leaf."

"Oh, we're very sorry Sakura-san." Haku apologized. "Naru-chan and I were on a B-ranked Mission that took several weeks thus missing the exam."

"So how did you do?" Naruko said joining the conversation. She remembered that the Sandaime had said that all the rookie teams had managed to pass the second part of the exam but she wanted to hear it from the girl.

"We did okay." Sakura said proudly. "We managed to pass the first and second part of the exam though the second part was hard."

"Is that when you cut your hair?" Haku wanted to know.

"Yeah, each team had to gather two scrolls and we were attacked." Sakura said. "One of them pulled me by my hair and threatened to kill me if Sasuke-kun and Matsuda didn't surrender. I cut it off so he couldn't use me as a bargaining chip."

"I'm impressed." Naruko said meaning it. "You've changed and I'll be the first to admit it."

"T-thanks. I never thought you would praise me." Sakura blushed. "You never praised me before at the academy."

"That's because you never did anything that deserved any praise." Naruko shrugged ignoring the glare from Sakura. "Still, don't expect it too often. You might have changed a bit but you still have a long way to go before you're a real kunoichi in my eyes."

"You just wait." Sakura said standing up. "One day I'll make you eat those words and then you'll have to acknowledge me as a real kunoichi."

"I look forward to that day Sakura." Naruko said turning back to her ramen.

"Do you think she'll keep it up?" Haku asked once Sakura was out of earshot.

"I don't know." Naruko admitted. "Sure, she made a great effort or at least I think she did. I just hope she doesn't fall back once she realizes how hard it is to be a kunoichi. Until now she has been spared the horrors of life but that could change very soon. Only then will we see if she's cut out to be a kunoichi."

"Still, judging by the fact she was willing to cut off her hair shows she's willing to make some sacrifices." Haku nodded. "For a girl who was more concerned with looking good for her crush to do something like that is no small feat."

Naruko admitted that she felt the same way but she wanted to keep her thoughts about Sakura's change to herself for a bit longer. It wasn't that she didn't acknowledge the change Sakura had undergone since the last time she had seen her but rather that she wanted to see if the girl could keep it up. Change doesn't happen overnight or simply by cutting one's hair after all. Like she had told the pink haired girl, she still had to prove that she was capable of becoming a real kunoichi of Konoha.

* * *

The girls stayed awhile longer, just chatting with Ayame and her father about non-shinobi related things and generally had a good time. Haku and Naruko loved the Ichiraku family because they had just a down to earth lifestyle and they had different views of the world. They always found it interesting to learn how Ayame saw the world and what she thought about Konoha and its citizens. After talking for a bit they said their goodbyes and wandered around Konoha for a bit. They enjoyed the walk around the numerous parks and watched as small children played without a care in the world, not realizing what was coming in a few days.

"I'm really glad I came to Konoha." Haku said suddenly.

"Oh? Why's that?" Naruko wanted to know.

"Well, first of all I get to be with you." Haku said taking Naruko's hand in hers. "Secondly, I got myself a family with Anko and Yuugao. And while I still miss Zabuza-sama, I'm really happy. Maybe even happier than I've ever been. And it's all thanks to you." Haku then pulled Naruko to her and kissed her passionately. Naruko eagerly returned the kiss and when she came up for air she didn't need to say a word to Haku as she could read it of the girl's face that she felt the same way.

"I love you, Naru-chan." Haku said softly.

"I love you too." Naruko answered with a broad smile. "And I'll always will."

After reaffirming their love for each other, the girls continued their walk around Konoha. They encountered a few people they had gotten to know and after talking a bit with each of them, they decided that it was time to head back home.

* * *

It was time for Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune to start heading towards Konoha. The finals of the Chuunin exam would start the next day and so they needed to get moving. Over the past two weeks, since Naruko and Haku had left, they had been moving closer to Konoha without getting close so they wouldn't attract any attention. When they travelled, they use a Henge and no one was the wiser that two of the Sannin were traveling together.

About around midnight they finally reached the gates of the village and Tsunade looked very nervous to be there. Shizune, on the other hand tried not to look to happy in order to support her mentor but it was obvious how happy she was to be back in her native village. They stayed a bit to let Tsunade get used to being there; sure she had decided to come back but now that she was actually here, it scared her. Still, she pushed on and nodded that she was ready.

Jiraiya, who had send a toad messenger to the Sandaime that they would arrive that night lead them towards a secret entrance. This would allow them to get inside unnoticed. Once inside the village they quickly headed towards the Hokage Tower where their sensei would be waiting. Not bothering to knock they just barged into his office.

"Jiraiya, good to see you." The Sandaime said greeting his pupil before turning to his other student. "Tsunade, I'm so glad that you're doing fine. I honestly was getting worried about you. And Shizune, you look fantastic as well."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Shizune blushed at the praise.

"What's the status?" Tsunade said not wanting to discuss the past.

"Straight to business, as usual." The Sandaime chuckled. "Very well, like you asked I provided you with enough medical supplies and a team of Medic-Nin who are at the top of their game. They're informed that you'll be the one in charge and they're anxious to work with you."

"What about the counter-attack?" Jiraiya asked.

"That's been taking care of as well." The Sandaime nodded. "While Tsunade and Shizune are taking care of the wounded, you and I will deal with Orochimaru."

"You want me to help?" Jiraiya said surprised. "I would have thought that you would want to fight him alone."

"I'm not taking any chances. Who knows what he has planned out for us." The Sandaime sighed. "It's hard to admit but I'm old and not the same shinobi I was years ago. I tire much faster and my muscles and bones ache after I used my Taijutsu."

"That's to be expected, Sensei." Tsunade said softly. "Like you said, you're not eighteen anymore. While you're still stronger than most of the village, Orochimaru will not be easy to defeat."

"That's why I need you to join me." Sarutobi said to Jiraiya. "With you at my side, I know we can defeat him and end this threat."

"Don't worry, Sensei. I've got some payback to give him." Jiraiya said grinning.

"Good, then I'll see you at the Hokage Box tomorrow morning." Sarutobi said. "Shizune, Tsunade, I prepared a room for you here at HQ. That way you'll have access to the shelter directly."

"Thanks Sensei, I'm glad to see you're doing well." Tsunade said finally showing some emotion at the man that had been her teacher for so long.

"You're welcome, Tsunade-chan." The Sandaime said, calling her like he used to when she was just a Genin. "Good luck and thank you."

* * *

Finally the morning of the invasion had arrived and everyone was getting ready. At the Uzuki household the four kunoichi were busy making last checks on their equipment and preparations. Haku and Naruko were checking their special scrolls that had been prepared just for the attack. The scrolls were filled with backup weapons, medical supplies and even food just in case. There was no saying just how long the battle would be and a hungry shinobi was a weak shinobi after all. Naruko also had several scroll filled with a surprise for the attackers; she was looking forward to using it but when Anko asked she just smiled saying that it was a secret. Haku had the same scroll as well.

"Okay girls listen up." Yuugao said suddenly. "Today is going to be brutal and dangerous. I want each of us to come back home unharmed and safe. So, no heroics or stupid stunts to try and impress anyone. You're all too important to me and I swear to God that if one of you makes me worry, I'll promise to make you pay. Clear?"

"Don't worry, nee-chan." Naruko said hugging her big sister. "We won't do anything stupid. We've been training for this long enough and we're ready. You and Anko-neechan made sure of that. Tonight the four of us will be home safely and we'll go to the onsen like usual."

"Good, now come here all of you." Yuugao said before the four of them gathered in a group hug. After holding each other closely, they let go.

"Alright, let's go kick some butt." Anko proclaimed loudly getting cheers and battle screams from the others.

Since only those that the Sandaime had alerted were aware of the invasion they had to pretend that everything was okay so they wouldn't alert the enemy. Yuugao and Anko said their goodbye's and went straight for the arena. Naruko and Haku however were expected at the ANBU HQ so Naruko could make enough Kage Bunshins to fool the enemy into thinking that they were ANBU. Entering by using one of the many secret entrances they arrived in HQ where the Sandaime and the several squads of ANBU were already waiting.

'Ah good morning you two." The Sandaime said like it was just another ordinary morning. "I have just explained what is going to happen to the men. Naruko, if you would."

"Sure thing Ji-chan." Naruko said with a smile before she created the exact number of clones; one for each ANBU and henge'd them into an exact replica. The ANBU were very impressed to say the least. Most of them knew the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu but none of them were capable of creating so many of them and survive.

"Excellent." The Sandaime said. "The clones will take place at the arena and its surroundings while the real ones will stay hidden around the village. Remember that Konoha became the strongest village by working together. I have absolute faith in all of you and I have no doubt that we will be victorious. The great tree will not fall today nor will it in the near future. Protect your loved ones and they will provide you with the necessary strength to defeat your opponent. Good luck to all of you."

The roar of the men was deafening and they all went their own way. Naruko, Haku and the Sandaime walked towards the exit of the HQ and towards the arena. On their way there, they talked about some meaningless stuff, trying to forget about the invasion for just a little while longer. Once they arrived at the stadium, which was already packed with spectators, Naruko and Haku took one last look at the man that they both considered their grandfather and that look told him everything they wanted to say. They wanted him to be careful and come back to them. He nodded slightly promising to do just that and moved to the Hokage Box where the Kazekage was already waiting.

The girls moved to the top floor of the arena, giving them a complete overview, where Yuugao and Anko were waiting for them. Once there they settled down and tried to relax and somewhat enjoy the matches that were lined up to begin shortly. From their spot they could see the entire arena and would be aware if the invasion started the moment it began. Naruko looked at the sheet where the matches were announced and was looking forward to see Gaara fight with Sasuke. The entire arena was filled with people coming to see the matches and it was bursting with excitement. Everyone quieted down however when the Hokage stood up and addressed the crowd.

"Welcome each and all." The old Kage said. "Today we will witness the end of the Chuunin Exams that started little over one month ago. The starting number of Chuunin hopefuls was staggering but in the end only those that will appear before you have managed to reach the finals. Let's give them all a warm welcome and encourage them." With that the doors opened and everyone could see the participants march into the arena. People started cheering on their friends or favorites and the Hokage let them for a while. "Yes, they certainly deserve praise and admiration for coming this far. Yet, there is still a lot to be done. Today, they will fight for their honor and that of their village. A few words for the combatants perhaps, remember everything you have learned and experienced until now and you'll get far. A Chuunin is a leader, leading a team through a mission, guiding them and bringing them home safely while succeeding in the mission. A Chuunin not only mastered several arts of being a shinobi but also has a head on his or her shoulders, knowing when to fight and when to retreat. I wish you all the best of luck. Let the finals begin."

The crowd went crazy and cheers were shouted. Everyone was waiting for the match to begin but first the Genin in the area had to listen to the proctor, who explained the rules of the match. That didn't take long however and soon the first match was on its way. The proctor announced Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Neji as the first combatants. The other Genin were instructed to head up to the stands and wait for their turn.

"Dog boy seems anxious to begin the match." Naruko said. She was still mad at him for hitting on Haku before.

"He better be careful if what I heard from Gai is true." Anko snorted. "It seems that Neji is an unrivaled genius in the Hyuuga Taijutsu style."

"Now, let's not judge before the fight has started." Yuugao said gently. "Who knows, he might surprise us?"

Once the match was underway it became painfully obvious who the stronger fighter was. Neji, thanks to his Byakugan, had no trouble evading Kiba's attacks. Even when Akamaru joined in the fight Kiba was hopelessly outmatched. That wasn't to say that Kiba was weak though. Naruko was actually impressed, she had even thought that Neji would be in trouble if that Tsuuga and Gatsuuga attack had worked. She could tell that both jutsu were devastatingly powerful but unfortunately for Kiba, Neji had countered them perfectly with that Kaiten technique of his. The four women winced as Kiba and Akamaru slammed into Neji's technique only to be catapulted in different directions and crashing hard into the walls of the arena. The proctor of the exam, Shiranui Genma, seeing that Kiba wasn't going to get up proclaimed Neji the winner and called the medic to look after Kiba and Akamaru.

"Too bad, he actually did have some cool moves." Naruko admitted. "Neji though, is amazing. I never knew that the Hyuuga Taijutsu was so powerful."

"The Hyuuga are considered one of the strongest clans in Konoha for a reason, Naru-chan." Yuugao said smiling. "While their clan matters involve some dubious traditions, their Kekkei Genkai and Taijutsu style has earned the respect of many."

"Doesn't mean he can be so condescending towards others." Naruko snorted after hearing Neji's words after he was announced the winner of the match. "'It was your fate to lose here'. How bigheaded can you be?"

* * *

The second match was scheduled to be Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara and many of the spectators had come just to see the Uchiha survivor fight. The crowd became restless as the match didn't start immediately after the first one was done. Naruko and company looked at the gate that gave entrance to the arena but there was no sign of Sasuke nor Kakashi. When after almost five minutes they still hadn't arrived Genma looked towards the Sandaime asking how to proceed. Just when the Hokage was about to disqualify Sasuke, he arrived in a Shunshin with Kakashi.

"Are we late?" Kakashi asked while Sasuke tried to look important by taking a pose that he thought was intimidating.

"You barely made it." Genma said annoyed at Kakashi's famed tardiness.

Kakashi sighed relieved as the Sandaime had threatened to demote him back to the academy to cure his tardiness if he was late for the match or the invasion. He had tried to arrive before the start of the exam but Sasuke had wanted to get a change of clothes at the last moment. So it wasn't really his fault that they were almost late. He apologized to Genma and made his way up to the stands leaving Sasuke with Genma who called Gaara to the arena.

"Look at him, standing there like he's god's gift to shinobi." Anko snorted. "He doesn't even realize how close he came to being disqualified."

"I wonder how he'll deal with Gaara's sand." Naruko said. "There's no way he's faster than Lee and from what Gai-sensei told us that's the key to defeat Gaara."

"Don't forget that Sasuke has the Sharingan." Yuugao reminded them. "While you can like or dislike the Sharingan, you can't deny how powerful it is. I'm sure Kakashi taught him how to use it effectively."

* * *

Meanwhile down in the arena, Sasuke and Gaara where evaluating each other, trying to find a weakness or to get under their opponents skin. Genma frowned at the amount of killer intent that came from the red-haired Suna-nin knowing that no normal Genin could emit such a strong killing intent. Sasuke felt it but he ignored it and tried to top it but was unsuccessful. When Genma started the match Gaara unleashed his sand and several tendrils sped towards the Sharingan using Sasuke. Thanks to the Sharingan's abilities, he managed to evade the sand and he wasted no time to approach Gaara. When he tried to punch him though, a shield of sand stopped him clean in his tracks.

Sasuke winced with his fist impacted on the hardened sand and he felt lucky that he hadn't put his full strength into it, otherwise he would have broken some bones. He jumped back instantly when he saw the shield change shape and he flip-flopped to the wall, taking some distance. Gaara had no problem with the distance however and his tendrils went in pursuit of Sasuke. Seeing the sand coming closer, Sasuke cursed and evaded one more, ducking under one tendril before another slammed him into to ground. Having the breath punched out of him, he barely managed to evaded the tendril that stabbed the ground just where his head was a second before.

"It seems Sasuke isn't fast enough to evade Gaara's sand." Yuugao observed as Sasuke jumped out of the way of another tendril.

"I never thought that Gaara had such control over his sand." Naruko said focusing on Gaara who still hadn't moved a muscle since the beginning of the match.

"He's strong." Haku admitted.

Sasuke however had enough of being kicked around or run around the arena evading the sand and he decided to kick it up a notch. Focusing some chakra into his legs he pushed of the ground and sped towards Gaara who hadn't expected him to accelerate like that. Sasuke's punch, while faster still didn't manage to pierce his shield but it had be close. Sasuke saw the shock on Gaara's face and continued with the high speed attacks.

"Idiot, he'll run out of juice in no time if he keeps using chakra like that." Yuugao said not understanding Sasuke's actions.

"Kakashi must have reached the same conclusion Gai has." Anko nodded. "Speed is the only way to get past that shield. Problem for Sasuke is that he doesn't have the same speed as Lee. He needs to use chakra to enhance his speed otherwise he doesn't stand a chance."

"Surely Kakashi warned him about using that way of moving?" Yuugao frowned.

"I did." Sounded the voice of Kakashi behind them. "For Sasuke to retort to this technique means that he saw no other way out."

"You tried to increase his speed during the last month." Yuugao nodded.

"Amongst other things, yes." Kakashi explained. "I realized immediately that Sasuke would never get anywhere near the necessary speed requirements without using Chakra. Lee has been training for years under Gai's tutelage and has gained his speed the hard way. Sasuke however has to use Chakra because one month wasn't nearly enough to catch up to Lee."

"Lee must have been amazing." Naruko smiled.

"He sure was but there never was any doubt about that, now was there?" Anko grinned making Naruko and Haku shake their head.

Meanwhile Sasuke was getting tired and frustrated. No matter how fast he went, he couldn't penetrate Gaara's defense. Not only had Gaara stopped every attack, he was still going strong, barely breathing hard while Sasuke was sweating like crazy from exhaustion. He was about to attack when Gaara addressed him.

"Enough, Mother has grown tired of you." Gaara said.

Before everyone's eyes Gaara's sand started to form a huge sphere around him encasing him completely. Unnoticed to anyone Gaara's siblings started shaking in fear as they knew what was coming. The Uchiha had fought well but this was the end for him. When Gaara used this technique nothing could stop him and they had witnessed the monster that he became several times before. Even Gaara's Jounin sensei was getting cold shivers when he remembered the horror of Gaara's transformation.

Sasuke looked on as a eye made of sand appeared above the giant sphere following his every move. Deciding to take a risk he attempted to attack the sphere with a Katon Jutsu but to no avail. It didn't seem to faze Gaara and he stopped before he wasted any more chakra on useless techniques. Taijutsu was not going to help him out either so he was going to use his new favorite move, one that he had learned over the past month. It cost him a lot of chakra but in the end it might help him defeat this guy.

Everyone watched as Sasuke retreated until he reached the outer wall of the arena and grabbed his wrist. His face show his concentration and several drops of sweat rolled from his forehead to his chin. After about half a minute, chakra began to appear in his hand and a distinct sound could be heard. All of the older shinobi recognized the famous jutsu created by Sharingan no Kakashi. In the stands Yuugao and Anko turned to Kakashi.

"You taught him the Chidori?" Anko asked surprised.

"Sasuke needed an ace. Something that would allow him to win the fight or in this case survive." Kakashi shrugged. "Besides, Sasuke is the only one who could learn the Chidori outside of me."

"How so?" Naruko wanted to know. She had heard about this jutsu before but she had never seen it.

"The Chidori is an assassination jutsu and thus high speed movement is required." Kakashi explained. "Unfortunately, when one moves at great speed you're submitted to what is called 'tunnel vision'. It means that you can't see anything except straight forward and even then it gets blurry. Outside of that danger, there's also the fact that because of the speed, you can't react fast enough if you miss or the enemy blocks it."

"So why did you teach it to Sasuke." Haku said not understanding why he would teach his student such a flawed jutsu.

"That's because, like me, Sasuke possesses the Sharingan." Kakashi smiled. "It allows the user to predict movements and see clearly, even while traveling at great speed."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Yuugao said to Kakashi. "Such a powerful jutsu is a disaster waiting to happen in the wrong hands."

"Don't underestimate my student." Kakashi said turning back to the arena.

Sasuke smirked, knowing that everyone would be impressed with him right now. He, too had been impressed when he was shown the Chidori. It had taken seeing it only once to copy it but mastering it had taken most of the month. Even now, he wasn't even close to mastering it fully and he could only do it three times a day. Still, it should be enough to deal with Gaara's sand. When he was done concentrating he took a deep breath and shot forward, faster than ever, aiming the Chidori straight into the sphere.

The crowd watched in silence as Sasuke reached the sphere and plunged the Chidori into the sphere. Sasuke's arm disappeared completely into the sand and for a few seconds nothing happened. Then suddenly Sasuke winced as his arm started hurting from the pressure and he quickly retreated backwards. A loud scream could be heard from inside the sphere before it started disintegrating slowly, revealing Gaara clutching his shoulder. Then all hell broke loose.


	20. Chapter 20

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I know I'm a bit late with the release but I'm way too busy right now to write properly. I'm possibly moving to Japan for a few years and preparations in case of an actual move is taking all my time away. Combine that with work, family and other stuff and well, you get me running around in circles.

Anyway enjoy the chapter and let me know how it was.

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Invasion of Konoha

It happened in a blink of an eye. One second everyone was cheering for Sasuke, who had just dealt a finishing blow to Gaara, the second after that screams and explosions were the only thing that could be heard throughout the arena. Those who were aware of the invasion immediately sprung into action with Naruko and Haku revealing their Chuunin vest. If they wanted to ensure that the Genin listened to them, they had to shown that they effectively were above them in ranks.

"Naruko, you get to Ibiki at the south gate." Yuugao ordered quickly. "Haku, you're with me."

Naruko nodded and quickly gave Haku one last kiss before she sped off towards her assigned task. She passed her old classmates who were being huddled together, listening to their Jounin sensei for their orders. She ran and jumped through the village, hurrying to her post. Here and there she encountered a few people who were running around in panic so she directed them to the shelters. All throughout the village, Genin and Chuunin were busy helping with the evacuation of the villagers. So far not many Suna and Oto shinobi had managed to penetrate into the village but it was only a matter of time. Those in the arena would be quickly defeated thanks to the ANBU and once the spectators were safe, then the counter attack would truly begin.

When she reached the south gate, Naruko was quickly led before Ibiki. The head of Interrogation and Torture Department was already waiting for her as several giant Snakes had just appeared into the forest surrounding the village. They were getting closer every second and while he had no doubt that they would be able to hold them off for a while, he was glad Naruko had arrived.

"Good, you're here." Ibiki said. "Three snakes just appeared. It's seems Anko's idea was spot on."

"Don't worry, I'm ready." Naruko nodded before biting her thumb. She did the handseals needed and slammed her hand into the ground. With a cry of 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu' the area was filled with smoke before a booming voice almost deafened everyone.

"Who summoned me?" The great Toad boss, Gamabunta roared.

"I did, Bunta-sama." Naruko said from atop his head. "It's time to kick some butt."

"Ah, Naru-chan." Bunta smiled. He liked the girl. "Let's show those filthy snakes what we can do shall we?"

"Sure thing, Bunta-sama." Naruko winked at the huge Toad.

Just then the three snakes emerged from the forest and readied themselves to attack the gate. Bunta and Naruko smirked before Bunta jumped straight forward, unsheathing his knife. The first snake was quickly dealt with as it was cleaved in two by Bunta's huge knife. The two other snakes paused slightly before one of them lunged forward with its mouth wide open. Bunta, who was just turning back to the snakes, saw the attack coming and jumped sidewise narrowly dodging the attack. He ordered Naruko to hold on and jumped straight up and to Naruko's surprise he did some handseals with his paws before unleashing a highly concentrated ball of water straight on top of the snake. Not only the snake was hit by the water but also the area making it very wet. The snake was pressed into the ground from the force of the attack hitting it and if that wasn't enough, the weight of Bunta dropping on it was more than enough damage to dispel the summon. The third snake had taken advantage of his brethren's death and rushed past Bunta trying to get to the outer wall of the village where Ibiki and his men were watching the fight. Not wanting to lose face, Bunta just stepped on the snake's tail, making it come to an abrupt stop. Before the snake could look back however, it was stabbed by the knife and dispelled into smoke.

The Konoha shinobi who were watching the fight cheered loudly at the defeat of the snakes. They had just dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, who were watching from inside the forest. In less than a minute, Naruko and Bunta had defeated a dangerous element from the invasion.

Naruko, smiled and thanked Bunta before he returned to his realm. She jumped back to the outer wall where Ibiki and his men were waiting for the incoming troops. When she landed she was greeted with smiles, compliments and pats on the back.

"Enough with the cheering already, we're not in the clear yet." Ibiki roared pointing at the Oto-nin that just started their attack. A large group of Oto-nin, who had seen Gamabunta disappear and thought that it was safe to attack came out of the forest. "Get ready."

"Wait, I have an idea." Naruko exclaimed suddenly and she leapt over the wall straight at the Oto-nin.

"Uzumaki, are you crazy?" Ibiki yelled. He knew that if something happened to her, Yuugao and Anko would tear him a new one.

Naruko ignored him and kept running towards the group of Oto-nin and smiled when she felt the wet ground under her feet. Her arms flailing behind her, she started to concentrate a lot of Raiton chakra in both hands. When she was just about to reach the Oto-nin halfway she stopped and slammed her hands into the soaked ground and smirked at the Oto-nin.

"'Raiton: Kandenshi no Jutsu'" and Naruko released her Raiton charged chakra into the soaked ground. The effect was instantaneously as the entire plain between the wall and the forest was soaking wet thanks to Bunta's Suiton Jutsu earlier. The electrically charged chakra and the water were enough to affect the entire first group of Oto-nin. Screams of extreme pain sounded through the air and one after another the Oto-nin slumped down on the ground, either death or seriously burned and hurt. Naruko winced a bit at the sight as she hadn't really thought that the jutsu would be so powerful. Still, it was a huge success and it had dealt with a large number of enemies.

"Well done, Uzumaki. " A gruff voice said from behind her. "Good thinking but if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll make sure you'll regret it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Naruko gulped at the man. She knew from Anko that this man was not to be messed with.

"Good, then take a rest while we deal with the second wave." Ibiki ordered.

"I'm still capable of fighting." Naruko protested loudly.

"I know that but you used up a huge amount of chakra with summoning Gamabunta and that jutsu." Ibiki nodded. "Take a rest and gather some chakra; we'll need your help later on. That's teamwork as well, Uzumaki. Rest and then you can fight while another rest. You know this."

Naruko sighed but nodded her agreement before retreating to the wall. It was a tactic that worked well and Konoha had been using it throughout the several wars. One group attacks while the other rests, and then they switch. It's especially effective when you have the advantage of fighting at home and defending. Naruko watched as her fellow Konoha shinobi fought with the second wave of Oto-nin. While superior in number, the Oto-nin seemed to of a lower level in individual skills and had no teamwork what so ever. So it wasn't really surprising that they didn't last all that long or none of them made it past the Konoha shinobi.

* * *

At the other side of the village, one traitor was about to make his move. Mizuki, had spend the last months in constant agony. Oh, it wasn't psychical pain but rather mental pain; no longer could he stand to be in this village and deal with the snot-nosed brats of the academy. Ever since he had returned from the mission where his teammates had been killed in action, he had been assigned to be a teacher with Iruka. On top of that, he knew he was being suspected of something but so far he had managed to stay under the radar and not attract any attention to himself.

No, Konoha didn't do it anymore for him. He wanted power but it was almost impossible to attain it in Konoha so he went in search for it elsewhere. He had found it when Orochimaru of the Sannin contacted him. Mizuki had immediately agreed to work for the snake Sannin in order to get more powerful and so he had been sending information about Konoha and several shinobi to the man. He didn't really care what the Sannin wanted with the information as long as he gained something as well. When he was informed that Oto would invade Konoha, Mizuki thought it was perfect retribution for all the years of suffering.

Now, it was finally that time. His part in this invasion was to exterminate all of the clan heirs that were currently in the academy or as many as possible. He didn't see any problem with that, as he was surely strong enough to deal with a dozen brats. The other teachers might pose a problem but if he worked quickly he might be done before they could move against him. So when he heard the first explosions, alerting him that the invasion had started, he sprung into action. As he and Iruka had a class at that exact moment, he told Iruka to secure the way while he escorted the students outside. Iruka, who wasn't aware of Mizuki's deflection, agreed and moved out. Mizuki turned back to the frightened students and an evil grin appeared on his face. Before he could do anything however several of the students exploded into smoke and several ANBU appeared from behind a Genjutsu.

"Mizuki, you're under arrest for treason and attempted murder on Clan Heirs." One ANBU said. "Do not make this any worse for yourself."

"H-How did you know?" Mizuki stammered. He had been caught red-handed. Literally, because he was holding a kunai in both hands.

"Fool, do you really think we wouldn't find out about this?" The ANBU said smirking. "We've been aware of this invasion for months and have preparing for it ever since."

"NO, that's not possible." Mizuki shouted.

"You were seen passing the guard post by Genin Uzumaki Naruko and Genin Haku." The ANBU rubbed it in. "Not only are you a traitor but you fail at that as well. Now, surrender or else…"

"Like I would give up like that." Mizuki said attacking the ANBU leader, who effortlessly blocked the attack and knocked Mizuki out.

"Idiot." The leader muttered. "Take him to the holding cells. Ibiki and Anko wanted to deal with him personally. The rest of you move out and help the students get to the shelters."

"Yes Sir." They all said before taking the students out of the Academy and to Iruka who had just arrived back seeing as Mizuki didn't follow. The ANBU quickly explained what had happened and Iruka, while shocked, took charge of the students and their safety. He had made an error in judgment with Mizuki but he would regain himself by protecting the students with his very life.

* * *

Haku and Yuugao were assigned to the North Gate were a large group of Suna-nin and Oto-nin were reading their attack at the moment of their arrival. Luckily, Yuugao and Haku were in good company as they were joined by several Jounin and even a few ANBU troops. Yuugao as the senior officer at the scene issued orders and the group split up into two smaller groups. The first group would halt the enemy in their tracks, while the second group was to provide backup and relief those who were tired or injured.

Haku watched as the first group of enemy shinobi were halted by Yuugao and her group. Everyone encountered a enemy and the fights started straight on. Everyone played for keeps and no mercy was shown if an enemy was defeated. After all, a wounded enemy that was shown mercy was a potential stab in back. While a few Konoha shinobi got hurt in the first wave of the attack, they hadn't lost anyone yet, which was a positive thing.

Most of the invading army proved to be only of Chuunin level skill, with exception of the Suna-nin. Those seemed a lot stronger than the Oto-nin and at least had some measure of teamwork. The Oto-nin however were easily defeated by the Jounin or the ANBU. Seeing that it was now her group that would be doing the defending and attacking, Haku prepared herself and already formed her sword. Many of the Konoha shinobi, who had heard about Haku and her Kekkei Genkai, were very impressed with the girl.

'You guys haven't seen anything yet.' Yuugao smiled proudly at her student and adoptive sister.

When the second wave came, Haku wasted no time and sped forward meeting an Oto-nin straight on. She ducked under his kunai and brought her sword up in upward slash cutting the man from waist to shoulder. To everyone's surprise the wound didn't even get the change to bleed as it was frozen over instantly. The man dropped dead and Haku muttered a small prayer for the man. She still disliked killing but to protect Konoha and Naruko she would kill as many times as necessary. Seeing several Oto-nin coming at her, she yelled at everyone to get back before she took out the scroll from her pouch and threw it in the air. As soon as the scroll was airborne she did a handseal and a huge amount of water came out of the scroll. With a look of pure concentration on her face, Haku rushed through some one-handed handseals and hundreds of ice senbon formed from the water. They hovered in the air for about a second before they rained down on the unsuspecting invaders. While many evaded being killed by the ice senbon, many got gotten hit or distracted giving the Konoha shinobi a chance to deal the finishing blow.

"Way to go, Haku-chan." Yuugao congratulated the heavy breathing girl. "Take a rest, we'll have more enemies to defeat once you catch your breath."

"Thanks Yuugao-sensei." Haku said. "That took a lot more chakra than I expected. Seems I still need some training."

* * *

When the attack began, the Jounin sensei had gathered their Genin to issue some orders. It took a while to gather most of them, as the panic and chaos was greater than expected. Still the Sandaime's plan had worked to perfection. The invaders targeted the ANBU first not knowing that they were decoys. When they poofed away into smoke, they were so shocked or distracted that the real ANBU had no trouble dealing with their assailants. What was unexpected however was the amount of enemies that had managed to get inside the arena. Therefore the Jounin sensei were obligated to help out a bit at first until the number of invading shinobi was reduced.

"Is everyone here?" Kakashi asked when they finally managed to gather everyone.

"Sasuke-kun followed Gaara when he left the arena." Sakura said immediately.

"Okay, I want three of you to follow Sasuke and assist him." Kakashi said. "Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru, the three of you will be care of this."

"What is the rest of us supposed to do?" Kiba asked not wanting to be left behind.

"Look around you, Kiba." Kurenai said briskly. "I'm sure you'll find someplace where you can help. You're all shinobi of the Leaf, so do your part and protect the villagers."

The Genin nodded and formed little teams to work together and help evacuate the villagers and nobles out of the arena. Once the Genin were gone, Kakashi and the rest went to do their part in the counter-attack. By now, the village had been penetrated by several troops and since most of the villagers had been evacuated Konoha would start their true counter-attack. When a red flare soared over Konoha, everyone knew the signal. It had been agreed that once the evacuation was complete, a red flare would announce the okay for the counter-attack.

From everywhere Konoha teams emerged and engaged the enemy. Legendary teams like the famous Ino-Shika-Cho team inspired fear into the enemy and courage into the Konoha shinobi. Other less known teams or shinobi were also helping combating the enemy. Most of the important strategic marks like the hospital or the Hokage tower had several teams protecting it. The Jounin sensei, were finishing up the arena before they as well started helping. Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko took a final look at the arena where the Sandaime Hokage was fighting Orochimaru and decided that they would guard the immediate surroundings and deal with any shinobi that came their way.

* * *

In the shelters Tsunade and the medical teams were busy helping as much people as they could. Several people got hurt during the evacuation process, mostly due to panic. But once the counter-attack started several shinobi were brought in and Tsunade thanked her lucky stars that she had gotten over her fear of blood. Ripping off the Chuunin vest of a wounded shinobi, she started healing the stab wound, hoping that she could save the young man. Shizune too, had started on healing a wounded shinobi but luckily her patient wasn't in any danger of dying. Both women knew that this was only the beginning of a very long day.

* * *

Orochimaru was seriously pissed off. The day had started off so well but had quickly gone to the dogs once the invasion started. He enjoyed sitting next to his unsuspecting sensei, disguised as the Yondaime Kazekage. He and his guards had dealt with that annoying little shit a few weeks ago. It hadn't been all that hard even, the man was arrogant and thought himself invincible but while he had put up a fight, it was nothing a Sannin and his personal guards couldn't deal with.

So when the invasion started, he had hoped to catch his former sensei off guard and alone. Unfortunately, it hadn't gone that way. While he had gotten the Sandaime on his own, the man was far from surprised. No, the man had been aware of the invasion all this time. Orochimaru could see it in the old man's eyes.

"So you finally decided to act against Konoha, Orochimaru?" Sarutobi said calmly not bothering to acknowledge the fact that he was sealed inside a barrier he had never heard off.

"How did you know?" Orochimaru demanded. "I can tell. You were aware of the attack."

"Of course I was." The Sandaime chuckled. "Did you really expect that we wouldn't find out? Come now, I taught you better than that."

"Impossible, I planned this into the tinniest details." Orochimaru exclaimed furious.

"Actually, it was a Genin who discovered your plot." The Sandaime smiled. "A few months back, Mizuki was seen and followed when he had that little reunion with the Suna and Oto-nin. It wasn't difficult to figure out what you were planning so we prepared for it."

Orochimaru cursed that foolish Chuunin that didn't notice that he was seen by a mere Genin. Mizuki better hope that he didn't get his hands on him or he would regret the day he was born. His whole plan was ruined but there might still be some salvation if he managed to kill the man in front of him. Yes, that would do nicely.

"I guess good help is hard to find these days." Orochimaru said while removing the clothes of the Kazekage.

"Your foolishness stops right here." The Sandaime said doing the same thing revealing his battle clothes. "I've let my feelings get in the way once before but not again. Prepare yourself, my wayward apprentice."

"Like you could stop me." Orochimaru sneered and he attacked. "There's nowhere you can run, old man!"

"No Orochimaru, this barrier hasn't trapped me but rather it keeps you in here with me." The Sandaime said smiling while dodging the attack. "And that's exactly what I wanted."

Outside the barrier several ANBU had gathered trying to break through the purple-colored barrier but so far none of their methods had worked. On the contrary, they had already lost two of their men when they tried to break through it by force. It soon became clear that they wouldn't get inside by forcing their way in but none of them could think of any other way to get inside. As they watched the Hokage and the Sannin clash they decided that they would stand guard and attack as soon as the barrier showed any sign of weakness. Surely, those four kids would run out of chakra at one point. The ANBU hoped that it would happen before they lost their beloved leader.

* * *

Naruko watched as several Konoha shinobi fell when the second wave started their attack. Quickly making some Kage Bunshin, she ordered them to take the wounded to the shelter where Tsunade and Shizune could save them. The first wave of the attack had been defeated easily but it seemed that the second wave was composed of the more experienced fighters. Naruko jumped into the battle, unsheathing both of her Tanto and slashed her way through two shinobi who tried to get past her. A third tried to grab her but she deftly dodged his arms and stabbed him in the chest, killing him instantly. Removing her blade from the corpse she gulped at the sight but shook her head knowing now was not the time to think about it.

On her right she saw several Oto-Shinobi coming her way. In seconds she was surrounded by six or seven shinobi, who leered at her. She growled knowing what they were thinking but concentrated on her chakra. This was the ideal time to test out one of her newest jutsu, perfectly only days before. She made several signs to Ibiki, who had hurried over to help her out, and he nodded curiously. She had told him to clear the area. Giving the signal to retreat Ibiki watched in anticipation what Yuugao's student had planned now. The Oto-shinobi saw them retreat and advanced en masse thinking that they had won the battle.

Naruko grinned widely when she noticed that by now she was surrounded by almost twenty to thirty shinobi. Focusing on her Raiton chakra several strands of lighting appeared around her, making the Oto-shinobi very nervous. Suddenly with a loud voice she yelled out 'Raiton: Denkou Arashi' and the effect was instantly. A few dozen lighting strands erupted from her body, frying everyone in her presence, even those standing several feet away. In one fell swipe, the second wave of Oto-shinobi had been defeated and those who survived the blast of lighting were quickly finished off by Ibiki and his men.

"Uzumaki, remind me to never piss you off." Ibiki laughed loudly. He was genuinely impressed with the young blond; for the third time today she had whipped out a crazy ass jutsu defeating almost every shinobi still standing. That last Jutsu had really 'shocked' him. It resembled the 'Kaiten' jutsu of the Hyuuga but instead of creating a dome by spinning around, she just expelled all that Raiton chakra in every direction, thus hitting every enemy that had surrounded her. If Ibiki was asked he would tell everyone that this was something of a 'perfect defense' as well.

"Don't worry Ibiki-san, if you ever do something bad enough to make me want to use that jutsu on you, chances are that Yuugao-neechan or Anko-neechan got to you first." Naruko laughed but that didn't seem to relieve Ibiki one bit. Turning back to the other Konoha shinobi he started barking out orders.

"Alright maggots, I want this place cleaned out." Ibiki roared. "Detain every enemy still alive; those of you still capable of fighting prepare to go and aid elsewhere. I also want three teams to stand guard in case of a third attack."

* * *

Inside the village wasn't the only place where battle was raging. Just after the invasion had started, the Sand siblings had rushed to their little brother and fled the scene. Temari and Kankuro had always been afraid of their brother. That wasn't hard to believe as Gaara was as unstable a shinobi as they could get and the entire village knew this all too well. While he could be contained inside the village not to kill anyone who looked at him in a strange way, it was a whole other ballgame on missions. There Gaara had free reign to kill his opponents in just about any way he wanted to. Temari and Kankuro had seen Gaara destroy men after men without breaking a sweat, just by using his sand to fight them. Men being crushed to death was a gruesome sight and what bothered them the most was that Gaara enjoyed making them suffer.

It wasn't that they hated their little brother. In fact they wished he would be a normal little brother, one they could tease and teach. Unfortunately, Gaara had been chosen to be the Jinchuuriki for the Ichibi by their father, the Kazekage. From that day Temari had a fierce hatred for her father since not only did the sealing take away their mother but also their little brother. She had tried so many times to get through to him but the damage was already done by the time she met him for the first time. In fact, they hadn't been introduced to each other until the day they formed their team. Until that day Gaara was under the supervision of their uncle, who had died years ago when he tried to kill Gaara, or several other caretakers.

This was not the time to be thinking about that she told herself. When she saw Gaara use his sand to envelop himself she feared the worst. She and Kankuro had only once seen the monster take control and it had taken until each and every enemy had been killed for him to calm down again. Even then they had been lucky that he hadn't killed them as well. She really hated her father for putting her brother through this ordeal and cursing him to this fate. Then she saw that Konoha Genin pierce through the armor of sand, successfully wounding Gaara for the first time in his life. She could only imagine the terrors that Gaara must have felt.

"Shit, we're being followed." Kankuro suddenly exclaimed.

"How many?" Temari asked concerned.

"I don't know, four maybe five." He answered already grabbing the bundle on his back. "Here they come." The sand siblings were forced to head for the ground as several kunai and shuriken impacted on the branch they had been standing on. When they landed, their pursuers arrived as well.

First to arrive was Gaara's opponent from the finals, Uchiha Sasuke. Temari noticed that he was slightly out of breath but his stance told her that he was ready. Several seconds later three other joined him and from what she could read of his facial features, the Uchiha wasn't pleased that they were here.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded of Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru.

"It's troublesome but we're here to help you." Shikamaru said to Sasuke.

"I don't your help to defeat these losers." Sasuke said angering both Temari and Kankuro greatly. "You three might as well go home."

"You would do well not underestimate your opponents." Shino said calmly. He was used to hearing such words as Kiba tended to have the same tendency to underestimate his opponents.

"Whatever, just don't get in my way." Sasuke growled at them before turning back to the Sand siblings. "I don't know what you were going to do back there but I feel like our match was interrupted before we could finish it. What do you say?"

"Temari, Kankuro." Gaara said sternly getting up. "Don't interfere. This one is mine."

"The same goes for the three of you." Sasuke said to the Konoha Genin. "This is between the two of us."

Gaara and Sasuke stared at each other for a few seconds and then leaped into action. Sasuke unleashed a handful of shuriken which Gaara calmly blocked with his sand. Suddenly Gaara's features were changing into something monstrous as half his face changed. One arm had turned into a giant claw made out of sand. The Konoha Genin stared in disbelief at what they were seeing and Temari and Kankuro started shaking as they both knew what was coming.

Gaara had started unleashing the beast within.


	21. Chapter 21

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of this story. I'm sorry to have taken so long but life caught up with me. Luckily my father is okay (thanks to everyone who expressed their support) so that's a major relief. On the other hand, I've been told that my contract at the firm where I work will not be prolonged so I'm out of a job in three weeks. Stupid economic crisis. So it's back to jobhunting for me.

Other than that I'm doing fine. I've been having an idea for a new story so check out the poll on my profile page and vote. Nothing else to report but enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Twenty-One: Legends of Konoha

Konoha had been the home of many talented shinobi; both in the past and in the present. From the Shodaime Hokage, a man said to be capable of controlling the tailed beasts and the only one in history to have had the Mokuton Kekkei Genkai, founder of the first shinobi village, the village that would later become Konoha; his brother, the Nidaime Hokage, a man whose skills with Suiton Jutsu was unrivaled even to this day; the Sandaime Hokage, the Professor or God of Shinobi as many called him for learning just about every Jutsu outside the Kekkei Genkai related Jutsu; then there was the Yondaime Hokage, the man who had won them the Third Shinobi war and defeated the Kyuubi by sealing it into his own daughter. And those were just the Hokage; there were many more that could be counted as some of the strongest and most talented shinobi to walk the face of the earth.

Jiraiya and Tsunade, two third of the Sannin each had acquired legendary status together with Orochimaru during their fight with the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo. Already they were considered some of the strongest shinobi but that fight cemented their name into legendary status. Then there was Hatake Kakashi, Chuunin at six, Jounin at age twelve, student of Namikaze Minato and to everyone's knowledge the only non-Uchiha to have the Sharingan and capable of using it to a level of near-perfection. His name was already renowned in all of the Elemental Countries as an enemy not to take lightly.

There were others who were not yet well known or some who were known only inside Konoha. Ibiki, head of the Investigation and Torture department springs into minds; Mitarashi Anko, pupil of the traitorous Orochimaru; Uzuki Yuugao, one of the finest swordmasters Konoha had; Maito Gai, eccentric but without a doubt one of the strongest Taijutsu user in the village; Yuuhi Kurenai, a Genjutsu mistress with never seen before talent; Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Sarutobi Hiruzen and one time member of the Daimyo's guard. These and many more were all some of the strongest and most admirable shinobi Konoha had to offer.

Then there was the current generation, the future of Konohagakure. As the Chuunin exams had revealed, it became clear that in this generation as well, there would be those that would achieve great things in life. When one looked at the latest class to graduate, one could find an heir to just about every clan in Konoha. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino formed a team just like their parents had done before them and were well on their way to becoming strong in their own right. Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino formed an excellent team after a rough start but managed to pull through thanks to their teamwork and dedication to each other. Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Tsuyoshi Matsuda were rough around the edges and still had a long way to go what teamwork concerned but they would get there in the end. Uzumaki Naruko and Haku had already started on their ascension towards building their reputation in the village and would soon become known throughout the Elemental Countries in the next few years.

These shinobi were the reason why none of the other villages were keen on waging war with Konoha. While each village had their own shinobi that could be compared to Konoha's legends, none had as many as Konoha. Even Orochimaru wasn't foolish enough to believe he could destroy Konoha by attacking on his own and that's why had to wait for several years. Years of training his troops, years of gathering resources, years of patience were spend until finally he saw the perfect opportunity. The Suna Daimyo had foolishly alienated the Kazekage by reducing the budget for the village, forcing the Kazekage to reduce the number of men he had in order to keep the village floating. It was a process of years rather than months. Sunagakure wasn't blessed with good weather conditions nor did it have the riches Konoha or the other villages had. This resulted in some severe resentment towards those villages, especially towards Konoha as they had won the war against both Suna and Iwa. Orochimaru capitalized on those feelings of resentment, promising the Kazekage revenge on the village that was slowly but surely suffocating Sunagakure.

Suna wasn't only village to resent Konoha. Iwagakure for example had a fierce disliking of everything Konoha. The Tsuchkage, known as Ryoutenbin no Oonoki, was the leader of Iwa during the Third Shinobi War and still hadn't forgotten the humiliation of being defeated by Konoha. For years, Iwa had barely managed to survive after the terrible losses of manpower and financial problems. Only recently had they managed to find their way back to power, albeit slowly as not to alarm the other villages. Last thing they wanted was to make the others suspicious of their activities. They had no desire to find themselves involved with another war, not when they finally started to recover.

Kumogakure, another of the great Shinobi villages held an grudge against Konoha for several reasons. One of the main reasons what that Konoha was home to so many Kekkei Genkai, while they and the other villages only had a few. Over the years, Kumo had tried to acquire some of the those Kekkei Genkai, both through peaceful and non-peaceful ways. Unfortunately, every attempt failed so far. The most known attempt was several years ago when a so-called ambassador of Kumo was ordered to secure a female member of the Hyuuga clan so they could start a breeding program. That attempt ended with the humiliation of Kumo as Konoha managed to trick them into accepting the body of a branch member of the Hyuuga Clan, whose eyes proved useless at the time of death. That humiliation was source of many frustrations for the former and present Raikage.

There was one more village who resented Konoha the most. Ironically, it was a village that hadn't participated in the second war until the end. Amegakure and its country, Ame no Kuni, served as the battleground during the Second Shinobi war and suffered massive damage due to the shinobi battles. The habitants of Ame no Kuni were caught right smack in the middle of Konoha, Suna and Iwa and thus most of the battles took place there. Normally, civilians weren't involved in shinobi fights but accidents happened more than one dared to acknowledge. On top of that, the land was destroyed, crops were burned down in order to take away food from enemies and so on. Even after the war was over, Amegakure, just like Kirigakure was plunged into a civil war. Needless to say, Ame no Kuni had needed many years to recover and was only now getting back to their feet. Still, feelings of resentment toward Suna, Iwa and Konoha were still present in many of the shinobi.

All of these feelings and envy would came to haunt Konoha in the coming years but for now let us return to the present. Orochimaru, one of the Sannin who had left Konoha some years before had return to destroy his former village by creating his own village in Ta no Kuni called Otogakure. Together with the Kazekage he had planned the attack on Konoha, and when the time was right, he had disposed of the Kazekage and taken his place in order to assure their aid in the invasion. Orochimaru couldn't care less about Suna and its problems but he needed more manpower if this attack would have any chance of succeeding. Months of planning and gatherings, plan after plan rejected until he finally found the perfect way to deal with Konoha. Today would be the day Konoha went up in flames and he would have his revenge. Alas, it was not meant to be. The shinobi of Konoha wouldn't just stand by idle when their beloved village was attacked. He was prepared for this but not for the fact that his plans had been discovered several months before the attack, thanks to the carelessness of a Chuunin.

For a brief moment Sasuke wondered if he wasn't in over his head when he saw the partially transformed Gaara in front of him. He had known that the Suna Shinobi had been strange and not much was known about him but this was beyond anything he had expected. With half of his face transformed Gaara looked barely human anymore and it seemed his thought process had been taken over by a monster as well. He didn't have very long to think about it as Gaara wasted no time and attacked him. Thanks to his Sharingan he narrowly managed to dodge but it had been close judging by the rip in his shirt.

"Something is very wrong here." Shikamaru said softly to Sakura and Shino.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Sakura asked mostly concerned about her love interest.

"Nara-san is right." Shino agreed. "Look at his teammates. They're shaking in fear even though they're on the same side. It's obvious that they do not want to be here, which suggest that something even worse is coming."

"Worse than this?" Sakura exclaimed but the sound of her voice was lost when a huge explosion destroyed dozens of trees.

Sasuke had been hiding after the first attack but Gaara was taunting him out of his hiding place. Uchiha Sasuke was a lot of things but he was no coward and being called one really pissed him off. Then Gaara's words about his reason for hate being weak brought back the memories of his brother slaughtering the entire Uchiha Clan for no apparent reason other than to test his strength. With the Sharingan blazing he made several handseals and the Chidori manifested into his right hand. When the dust cleared Gaara and Sasuke looked at each other before charging in. They bystander watched in fascination as Sasuke's Chidori effortlessly cut Gaara's transformed hand in two. But instead of howling in pain, Gaara let out an insane sounding laughter.

"YES, THAT'S IT." He exclaimed. "NOW I KNOW WHY I'M SO EXCITED TO FIGHT YOU. IT'S THIS PAIN; THIS PAIN PROVES MY EXCISTENCE. DEFEATING A MAN STRONG ENOUGH TO HURT ME WILL GIVE ME AN EVEN GREATER SENSE OF EXCISTENCE."

Sasuke smirked but stayed on guard. This had been his second Chidori and that was his limit. Kakashi had been impressed but warned him that he shouldn't try it a third time as he would run out of chakra, endangering his life. The smirk on his face vanished when Gaara transformed even further and a tail made out of sand appeared. Once the tail was formed, Gaara's arm restored as well and he was once more ready for battle. On the ground two Suna-nin were whispering to each other.

"Temari, we have to get out of here." Kankuro urged his sister. "There's no stopping him now and you know it."

"Of course I know that." Temari bit back. "But we can't abandon him here, he's our little brother."

"I know but will he remember now that he's started the transformation?" Kankuro sighed.

Sasuke watched as Gaara prepared for a new attack and suddenly he had to jump aside for Gaara was besides him in the blink of an eye. He barely managed to dodge the hit from Gaara's transformed arm by jumping over it. That was a mistake as Gaara's tail just hit him in the back like a annoying fly sending him flying and ultimately crashing into the hard surface of the forest. Luckily for Sasuke he had managed to land on his feet but that blow had hurt him. Gaara watched in satisfaction at his prey before deciding to have some fun. Taking advantage of Sasuke's momentarily weakness caused by just taking a massive hit, he pressed forward.

"Sasuke-kun, watch out!" Sakura tried to warn her teammate.

It didn't help however as Sasuke was unable to move in time. The large transformed hand of Gaara impacted on his chest sending him flying once more. Gaara used his tail to get in front of Sasuke before slamming it into the Uchiha's back. Sasuke gasped in pain as he felt as if his back was being broking in several pieces before falling back to the ground. Sasuke managed to slow down his descend by grabbing on to a tree but that only helped him a little. He impacted on the ground pretty hard on his back. He was in pain and breathing hard.

"WEAK!" Gaara exclaimed. "YOU'RE WEAK. IS THIS ALL YOU CAN DO? I'M DISSAPOINTED, UCHIHA"

"S-Shut u-up." Sasuke managed to say while trying to get up. "T-this i-isn't over y-yet."

"I GROW BORED OF YOU." Gaara's insane laughter sounded through the forest. "TIME TO END THIS!" Gaara raised his enormous hand intending to crush Sasuke but suddenly a new voice could be heard.

"Fuuton: Reppushou no Jutsu" the voice exclaimed and suddenly a insanely strong wind impacted on Gaara flinging him away from Sasuke into the forest and through several trees.

Sasuke and everyone else looked on in amazement as the unknown source of the jutsu appeared in front of them. There stood Uzumaki Naruko, her long blond hair waving in the wind and her clothes showing signs of heavy battles. Here and there were blood spatters of enemies that had fallen at her hands.

"What's going on here?" Naruko demanded.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said noticing Naruko's Chuunin vest. "Sasuke followed Gaara and we were ordered by our Jounin Sensei to assist him."

"Idiot." Naruko mumbled. "If you hadn't chased him, they would have left without causing any more trouble." Naruko looked at the Genin in front of her and decided that the best option was to get them out of here. "Alright listen up, Shikamaru and Shino will take Sasuke and head back for Konoha. Sakura, you are to give them cover and ensure they reach the village safely."

"B-but what about you?" Sakura said not understanding.

"I'll deal with Gaara." Naruko said. "The four of you don't stand a chance against someone like him."

"S-Shut up U-Uzumaki." Sasuke growled. "I don't need your help. Besides, why are you ordering us around?"

"In case you haven't noticed Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san is wearing a Chuunin vest meaning she's a Chuunin and thus our superior." Shino calmly said.

"That's right, now move out of here before Gaara returns." Naruko said but just when the words had left her mouth, Gaara appeared back in front of them. Once more he had transformed a bit further as now both arms were covered in sand turning them into giant claws. "Oh crap, he's pissed." Naruko said softly.

"WHO DARES TO INTERFERE?" the transformed Gaara bellowed.

"That would be me." Naruko said stepping forward and away from Sakura and the rest.

"YOU! I REMEMBER YOU FROM BEFORE; THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU STOPPED ME FROM KILLING MY PREY." Gaara said as he recognized Naruko from the time in the hospital.

Gaara lunged forward intent on decapitating Naruko with his claw but Naruko saw the attack coming from a mile away. After months of training with either Yuugao, Anko, Tsunade and Jiraiya, this attack was slow enough that she had no trouble evading it. She reappeared behind Gaara and delivered a massive punch to his head making him stagger to the right. She unsheathed her two Tanto swords and channeled some wind natured chakra into them. Running straight at Gaara, she ducked under the large swipe make by Gaara while using her Tanto to cut and slice the arm. Just in front of Gaara she crossed her arms and brought them down in a cross shaped manner. She turned around and looked in satisfaction as sand seemed to explode away from Gaara. The arm he had used to attack her was completely gone, only his normal human arm remained; his torso had a large cross shaped wound but didn't seem to be that severe as the sand had absorbed most of the attack. The others were staring in shock at seeing their former classmate fight like this. This wasn't anything like they had expected out of Uzumaki Naruko. Sure, even in the Academy she had been an okay student but nothing like this.

"What the hell are you guys still standing around for?" Naruko yelled at them. "Go, you'll only get in the way." That was the wrong thing to say as Sasuke pushed both Shikamaru and Shino off of him and started running towards Gaara.

Gaara however was in complete shock that Naruko had managed to penetrate his sand; when he saw Sasuke advance on him he reacted by attacking. He put his arms backwards before swinging them forward with great force. Out of his monstrous arms several Shuriken made out of sand headed towards Sasuke, who was to angry to notice the attack straightaway. The deadly projectiles were headed straight towards him and would have killed him if, out of nowhere, Sakura hadn't grabbed onto Sasuke and dragged him to the ground. They both fell onto the hard surface but while Sasuke tried to get back up, Sakura remained unmoving.

Naruko saw Sakura running towards Sasuke in order to get him out of the way of the Suna Shuriken. She was impressed that Sakura managed to do so, not because of her speed or tactics but rather that Sakura had never done anything to stop Sasuke in any way. When she noticed that the pink haired girl wasn't getting up, she hurried over. When she rolled Sakura on her back she immediately felt the blood that was flowing out of several wounds. Apparently, Sakura had been hit with several of the shuriken when she saved Sasuke.

"U-Urgh, I-I did i-it." Sakura breathed heavily. "I b-became a r-real kunoichi. I-is S-Sasuke-kun alright?"

"Stupid girl." Naruko sighed. "You did it Sakura, he's fine, you saved him."

"G-good." Sakura managed to say before losing consciousness.

"Shikamaru, get over here." Naruko ordered and Shikamaru quickly went over. "Take her to the hospital. She badly injured and losing blood fast; Shino, you take Sasuke. Go now."

"I'm not going anywhere, Uzumaki." Sasuke growled.

"Because of your actions, your teammate is badly injured." Naruko answered. "You're in no position to argue or fight."

"You can't order me around." Sasuke said defiantly to which Naruko simply vanished from before him and reappeared behind him knocking him out with hit to the head before throwing him to Shino who caught him without trouble. Shikamaru hoisted Sakura on his back and together they ran back to the village. Naruko turned back to Gaara, who had been patiently waiting for her.

"Thanks for letting them go." Naruko acknowledged.

"I have no interests in weaklings." Gaara laughed menacingly. "You, on the other hand are strong. I can feel it, you're different from them."

"You're right, I'm different from them but not from you." Naruko whispered so softly that Gaara couldn't hear her. In truth she pitied Gaara; like her he was cursed with being a Jinchuuriki but unlike her, he didn't have a friendly, loving adopted grandfather that looked for him. Instead he was submitted to the worst of torture; being alone in the world with nobody to support him or guide him. Forgetting that for a moment she assessed the situation. She had been fighting for a while now and she had used up a large part of her Chakra already. While unhurt, she wasn't in the best of conditions as Gaara seemed to get stronger with any passing minute. She had figured out that the more Gaara's body got covered with sand, the more his Bijuu was getting closer to being released. She was going to have to pull out the big guns for this one; she couldn't afford to hold back. If Gaara unleashed his Bijuu, Konoha would be in danger and that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. She looked over her shoulder and wondered how her Haku was doing. She didn't have much time to think about it as Gaara sprung into action.

'Please be safe, Haku-chan.' Naruko thought.

Haku on the other hand was resting after dealing with the last wave of shinobi that had attacked when suddenly Anko dropped on the ground next to her. Anko quickly looked over the battlefield and noticed Yuugao issuing out orders to the remaining Konoha shinobi. Relieved that her lover and little sister were okay, she grabbed Haku and told her to come with her. Quickly notifying Yuugao, the two raced back to the arena where the Chuunin exams had taken place. While running through Konoha, Haku noticed that Konoha had started the counterattack in full and that they were on the winning hand.

"Anko-neechan, what's going on?" Haku wanted to know.

"We're in need of your new technique." Anko said. "The Sandaime is in trouble but we can't get to him. He's been trapped into some barrier that we can't destroy."

"What makes you think my technique could help?" Haku nodded speeding up. The Sandaime had become like a grandfather to her in the few months she had been here, so she didn't want him hurt or worse. Not to mention that if anything happened to the Sandaime, Naruko would be devastated.

"The barrier is held up by four shinobi. If we could somehow dispose of them, the barrier would fall and we could assist the Sandaime." Anko explained. Just then they had arrived at the arena where all enemy shinobi had been defeated except a few of them. Anko guided Haku to the roof where the Hokage was fighting Orochimaru. Haku stared at the large barrier in front of her and wondered just what jutsu it was. Quickly, Anko and Haku were joined by Jiraiya and a few ANBU.

"Haku-chan, are you okay?" Jiraiya asked concerned.

"I'm fine, Jiraiya-sama." Haku smiled. "I'm a bit tired and have used up more than half of my chakra but other than that, I'm okay."

"Good, I need you to use that Jutsu of yours." Jiraiya said. "The barrier is being held up by these four." He then pointed to the four corners of the barrier. "From what I can gather, the barrier will fall if one or more of the shinobi fail to support it."

"I understand but I need some time." Haku nodded. "I've never tried to use it one more than one target before. I can only make two anyway."

"Not to rush you or anything but I'm afraid the Sandaime is getting desperate." One of the ANBU said. "Orochimaru has used a Kinjutsu called 'Edo Tensei' to resurrect the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage. Hokage-sama has been fighting them for some time now, he must be getting tired."

"He's right." Jiraiya nodded. "The old man is about to do something stupid again. Better hurry up."

"Guess I don't have much of a choice then." Haku said before going to some handseals. "Ninpou: Chakra Chikuden Kai" Everyone around Haku could feel the burst of Chakra coming from Haku and they stared in wonder. On her face were several marks coming from under her forehead protector to her eyes to just past her cheeks. Jiraiya smiled with pride as he understood what Haku had done. Together with Naruko she had created a seal that resembled Tsunade's 'Souzousaisei' but instead of healing, it released chakra that was stored into the seal back into the body. This meant that Haku now had replenished her chakra reserves to just about full again.

"What was that?" one of the ANBU exclaimed to which Anko quickly explained the process.

Haku on the other hand got busy and started to concentrate on two of the four corners of the barrier. At the corners stood a girl and a boy both sustaining the barrier with their chakra. The fact that they kept up the barrier for so long already spoke of their talents but nothing they did would stop Haku from helping out the kind old man inside the barrier. Sweat started to form on her forehead and slowly made its way to her chin but behind the two shinobi, a speck of ice started forming. Haku continued to force chakra into her jutsu. In the next half minute she had formed two small pieces of ice just big enough to put her hand through both in front of her and behind the two unsuspecting Oto-shinobi. Once the piece of ice was formed she took out two kunai and stabbed her hands into the pieces of ice and to everyone's shock her hands and forearms just disappeared into it, only to reappear out of the other pieces of ice. The kunai struck aim and the two Oto-shinobi fell like lifeless dolls as Haku removed her arms out of the ice and she slumped to the ground, shaking badly. She still very much disliked killing and while she knew it was necessary at times, she would never like it.

The effect of her actions was instantaneous. The barrier broke and the sudden disappearance of it was enough to stop both Orochimaru and the Sandaime in whatever they were doing. The Konoha shinobi outside the barrier wasted no time. The ANBU charged at the two remaining Oto-shinobi and tried to dispose of them quickly. Anko however grabbed the exhausted Haku and got her to safety, away from the battlefield.

"Great job, Haku-chan." Anko said smiling at the girl she had come to love as her little sister. "We'll take care of the rest."

Jiraiya moved quickly and appeared next to his former sensei. Before the Sandaime could comment on what had happened however Jiraiya just punched him in the gut, hard.

"Urgh, Jiraiya, what is the matter with you?" The Sandaime said after regaining his breath.

"What's the matter with me?" Jiraiya roared. "I should be the one asking you that. Don't think I don't know you, old man. You were about to do something drastic which would either result in you dying or something close to it."

"It's the only way I could think of." The Sandaime defended himself.

"There's always another way." Jiraiya disagreed. "Do you have any idea what it would do to Naruko if you died? She would be devastated to say the least. Right now she needs her grandfather to support her and guide her through life."

"Don't think I haven't considered that." Sarutobi said angry. "But I have to right my wrongs and this is the only way. Orochimaru is my mistake and I'm the one who has to fix it."

"Wow, are you really the sensei that taught me and Tsunade?" Jiraiya stared at the man in front of him. "Because the sensei I know always preached about teamwork being the most important thing for a Konoha shinobi."

"I…." Sarutobi started to say but he didn't find any words to continue.

"You're not alone in this fight, old man." Jiraiya said turning to Orochimaru and the resurrected forms of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage. "Now, how about we take care of those three and then we can all go home. I've just got some really good inspiration for my new book."

Orochimaru had been very surprised when the barrier suddenly collapsed without him giving the order. Then he noticed two of his subordinates lying on the floor with a kunai stuck into the back of their head. He didn't understand how this could have happened but that would be something he could figure out later. More importantly, ANBU were now fighting the remaining members of the Sound Five and Jiraiya had arrived at the scene. While not completely unsuspected, it still bothered Orochimaru that his former teammate was here. If Jiraiya and Sarutobi joined forces, it could mean a lot of trouble for him. While an idiot at times, Jiraiya was one of the Sannin and not an opponent to take lightly. Even in their days as a team, Orochimaru had always felt threatened by Jiraiya's abilities and while he was the stronger one at that time, Orochimaru wasn't so sure anymore these days. Still, it would be fun to deal with him.


	22. Chapter 22

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tangling with a Bijuu

Gaara proved to be a very entertaining opponent to Naruko. Thanks to his partial transformation, his speed and strength had skyrocketed and gave Naruko a lot of trouble. Gaara was able to do both long range and close range attacks thanks to his sand, which make it very hard for Naruko to get in a few hits. Even when she did get a few hits in, the sand absorbed most of the damage. All this together was starting to get on Naruko's nerves and she wasn't going to take much more of this.

Gaara on the other hand was ecstatic. His new prey was far more talented than that Uchiha he had been hunting before. This new prey managed to evade him several times and even when he did caught her, it was mostly just a scratch or barely grazed her. This was the most thrilling hunt he had been on in years. So far nobody had managed to get his attention like this before.

"THIS IS IT." Gaara roared in a crazy voice. "THIS IS THE BEST."

"Crap he's losing it." Kankuro whispered afraid. "Temari, we have to get out of here."

"No, not yet." Temari insisted. "This Konoha kunoichi is amazing. She's been evading Gaara's attacks like they were nothing. Nobody has ever done that before when Gaara started his transformation."

"The guy with the duckbutt hairstyle managed to injure Gaara when he was transformed." Kankuro disagreed.

"True, but that was because Gaara was only toying with him and only transformed one arm." Temari agreed. "But now Gaara is close to fully releasing his Bijuu form. The Uchiha wouldn't have lasted this long; he was struggling in the end once Gaara formed his tail."

"Whatever." Kankuro shrugged. Personally, if it was up to him, he would be halfway to Suna by now but he would not leave his sister to deal with Gaara alone.

Dodging another volley of Suna Shuriken courtesy of Gaara, Naruko quickly thought out a new plan. She needed to get the upper hand and quick; all this jumping around evading attacks was draining her chakra fast. While jumping behind a tree, she quickly formed a few handseals and pumped as much chakra into the jutsu as she dared.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" Naruko called out and suddenly the immediate vicinity was buried under a huge amount of clones. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro as well for that matter, looked at the forest filled with clones in amazement and some terror. Gaara's transformed eyes widened even further when all the clones rained down on him, looking to deal out a major can of whoop ass. Gaara soon was buried under the clones, receiving hundreds of punches and kicks, wearing down his armor of sand.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kankuro stared at the clones.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Temari rebuked as she watched as hundreds of clones attacked Gaara. "I've never heard about solid clones before."

Gaara was being pummeled from all sides and his sand was slowly giving way to the onslaught of Naruko's attack. While so far not many hits had done any damage, it was starting to get close. Even in his transformed state Gaara had the ability to understand that he was in a bad situation. Unfortunately he was unable to make a move as the clones kept on their attack.

The real Naruko however stood back and waited for the exact right moment to deal the finishing blow to her adversary. She was almost out of chakra, mainly because of the amount of clones she had made for that last attack but also thanks to her previous fighting. Suddenly she spotted the right time to attack. She rushed past the two other Suna shinobi, who were scared out of their minds when she passed them, and concentrated on the one jutsu she had been waiting to use for some time now. She concentrated briefly and in less than a second a perfect sphere of chakra formed in the palm of her hand. Mentally she dispelled all the clones so she would have a clear path to Gaara.

Gaara, who saw the clones disappear all at once, didn't have the time to react when Naruko appeared behind him and yelled out 'RASENGAN'. The effect was instantaneous as he felt the sand trying to protect him from the attack but failed as the Jutsu pierced straight through it like a hot knife through butter. The ball of highly condensed chakra slammed into his back and he felt it explode before he was send flying forward at such great speed that his sand couldn't catch up with him. He crashed through at least a dozen trees before coming to a halt.

'Wow, I never thought that the Rasengan was this powerful.' Naruko thought when she saw the debris and damage. 'That should take care of him.'

Temari and Kankuro were standing in shock at what had just happened. One second Gaara was being assaulted by hundreds of clones and the next, he was hit in the back with some kind of never seen before jutsu and then shot forward at breakneck speed. Never before had someone been able to defeat Gaara when he was transformed and this Konoha kunoichi had done so without dying in the progress. Both of them hoped that she wouldn't turn on them next.

Naruko breathed heavily; performing the Rasengan after creating so many clones was a lot more taxing than she had anticipated. Still, it was worth it as Gaara had taken the attack head on and she doubted that his sand had been able to protect him from taking any damage. She turned to the two other Suna shinobi, hoping that neither of them would be up to fighting her. She didn't need to worry however as both of them were shaking and their jaws just about hit the ground.

"She defeated Gaara?" Kankuro stammered to his sister.

"Y-Yeah, n-now what?" Temari said taking a step back.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Kankuro yelled. "Nobody ever defeated Gaara when he started his transformation."

Naruko listened closely and she could tell that both of them were shocked to see Gaara defeated like that. From what she gathered both of them knew Gaara was a Jinchuuriki and both of were afraid yet the girl seemed somewhat worried about the young Suna-nin. Wanting a bit more background she engaged the two of them.

"You two are aware of Gaara's status as a Jinchuuriki?" She inquired.

"Of course we knew!" Temari yelled. "He's our little brother for god's sake. Everyone in our village knows what Gaara contains since birth. He's been hated and feared ever since our 'dad'" she spat out the word dad with disdain and hatred "decided that he was too unstable to let live but no assassin could get close to him thanks to his sand."

"So that's why he's so unstable." Naruko understood. "Your dad wanted a weapon but quickly found out that he couldn't control it. He's a real piece of work, your dad."

"Don't you think we know that?" Temari screamed out. "He led us into a war that we possibly couldn't win, he sentenced our little brother to a life of hatred and loneliness, our village is slowly dying under his leadership and all we can do is nod and obey his commands."

"Temari, watch our what you're saying." Kankuro warned her. "You're getting close to treason."

"It's not like we're going to survive what comes next." Temari shrugged looking past Naruko at where Gaara had flown.

"What comes next?" Naruko wondered. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see. Don't think Gaara is defeated just yet." Temari said. "He still hasn't released 'it' yet."

"It?" Naruko asked but Temari didn't need to answer as a huge gust of wind came from behind her. She turned around and her jaw just dropped as a huge tanuki of sand appeared from where Gaara had landed. The Bijuu screamed loudly, cheering for his freedom and Naruko knew things had just taken a turn for the worst.

* * *

Orochimaru cursed loudly when the ANBU occupied themselves with defeating the remaining two of the Sound Five. The poor kids were already fatigued by holding up that barrier for far longer than expected and even by releasing the Cursed Seal they didn't stand much of a chance. There was some confusion and looks of disgust when the kids released the second level of the Cursed Seal, something even Anko hadn't know its existence off. Still, it didn't even the odds as the ANBU were much more experienced and while notably stronger than before, the Oto Shinobi still proved no match for them.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya was busy dealing with the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage. He knew which Jutsu Orochimaru had used and was already making sure that he could deal with it without having to resort to drastic measures like his teacher was about to do. It was actually Orochimaru who gave Jiraiya an idea on how to deal with them. It would take some strategic planning and time. He would have to hurry however as the longer it took, the more chance of something happening to the Sandaime. He wouldn't put it past Orochimaru to deal a finishing blow to their sensei while he had his back turned. It wasn't that the Sandaime was helpless or defenseless but it was obvious to everyone who knew the man that he was getting tired. Fighting two former Hokage's wasn't something that a sixty year old man could do like an everyday task, no matter how strong you were. Also the Jutsu that Orochimaru used allowed them to regenerate indefinitely from any wounds they might have. All of this together made them fearsome adversaries and most shinobi would have fallen ages ago.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the 'God of Shinobi' or 'The Professor' was cursing loudly. His mind was still able but his body was starting to fail him. No longer could he moves as fast as he wanted to; no longer did he have the chakra necessary for his jutsu. He knew that he was getting too old for this but getting old had never sucked as much before. Still he wasn't about to just sit on the sidelines when his student was fighting two of the former Hokage on his own. If he had to risk his life to deal with Orochimaru then so be it.

"It's over Orochimaru." The Sandaime addressed his former student. "Jiraiya will dispose of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage in a short while, there's nowhere you can go."

"Foolish old man, do you really think that I'll give up just because that fool arrived?" The Snake Sannin laughed menacingly. "My plan to destroy Konoha may be ruined but there's still a consolation prize in my sight." Orochimaru opened his mouth and to everyone's shock a snake with an open mouth came out, spitting out a sword which Orochimaru quickly grabbed.

"The famous 'Kusanagi' heh?" Sarutobi said.

"I see you still remember this sword." Orochimaru chuckled. "Now prepare to die by it as well."

Sarutobi frowned knowing that he was up against a truly dangerous opponent. The 'Kusanagi' was a famous sword and Orochimaru could wield it to perfection. Not only was it razor-sharp and almost indestructible, it was also very poisonous. If one got hurt by the sword and survived the initial attack, they usually succumbed to the poison mere hours later. He quickly channeled the last of his remaining chakra into summoning his most trusted aid. A few handseals later and Enma, King of the Apes, was at his sides.

"You called?" the old ape said to Sarutobi.

"Yes, old friend. I'm in need of your help to fight Orochimaru." Sarutobi said.

"Will you complete the task this time?" Enma narrowed his eyes at his summoner. "Last time you refused to do what was necessary, after all."

"No need to remind of my past mistakes." The Sandaime grumbled softly. "I won't fail this time."

"Good, then let's get started." Enma said transforming in a staff which Sarutobi caught without trouble. "Be careful though, the Kusanagi is a sword of legends and even if I'm as hard as diamonds it will still hurt."

Orochimaru watched his sensei summon his weapon and smiled. Even the old ape wouldn't be able to stop him from getting at least one victory today. With everyone else fighting, nobody but the Sandaime would be able to fight him somewhat evenly. He sped forward trying to catch the Sandaime off guard but his attack was skillfully blocked and he had to dodge a counter from the old man. It seemed that the man still had some reserves left but Orochimaru wasn't all that worried. He prepared for a new attack and pressed forward.

Jiraiya was almost ready to execute his plan. All he needed now was to lure the two former Kage's into his trap and for that he needed some help. He quickly called in the assistance of the remaining ANBU and Anko. Using some sign-language he ordered them to keep the Shodaime and Nidaime occupied for a few minutes so he could finish his preparations. Needless to say, the ANBU and Anko obeyed his orders and started fighting and distracting them. Jiraiya meanwhile was busy drawing some very complex seals and hoped his guess had been correct. The Edo-Tensei was a jutsu that summoned the spirits from the afterlife and bound them to a body by the use of seals implanted in their head. If the seal was destroyed the spirits would be free again and return the afterlife. At least in theory. Jiraiya only hoped that it would work in real life as well. He planned to have them trapped into a barrier that would act as a holding cell for both of them. He had no illusions as to the fact that it wouldn't hold them very long but it might be enough to do the trick. Glancing at the ANBU and Anko he saw that he needed to hurry as one of the ANBU had already fallen to the Shodaime's Mokuton Jutsu. After a minute of intensive concentration he was finally ready.

He took the four pieces of paper and quickly jumped around the battlefield placing them in square around the Shodaime and Nidaime before he shouted the Konoha shinobi to get the hell out of there. Anko and the remaining ANBU jumped back once they heard the Toad Sannin's voice and just barely managed to escape. Jiraiya slammed his hands on the last seal and shouted "Ninpou: Sanmon Kekkai'. Instantly the seal activated and a triple layered barrier snapped into existence around the two former Hokage's, trapping them inside. Wasting no time, Jiraiya went to the second part of the barrier and said 'Jounetsujigoku' and the inside of the barrier became a inferno of flames, burning everything inside it to crisps. The remaining Konoha shinobi watched in fascination as Jiraiya ended the jutsu after a few minutes. The barrier collapsed and the intense heat of the flames could be felt by everyone on the roof. Jiraiya took out a storage scroll and wrote another seal on it before activating it. The flames were sucked into the scroll, which Jiraiya immediately put in his pocket. Once the flames were gone, Jiraiya walked over to where the Shodaime and Nidaime had been trapped to ensure that the seal placed by Orochimaru had been destroyed as well. He didn't need to be worried as even the kunai, where the seals had been attached to, were melted by the intense heat. Satisfied by his work and the result he turned towards the Sandaime and Orochimaru. Both of them were still trading blows but Jiraiya could see that Orochimaru had the upper hand. He hurried over to help him but all of the sudden a new player entered the battlefield.

Orochimaru was gaining ground on the Sandaime and while he hadn't managed to injure the old man just yet it was only a matter of time. He could clearly see that the old man was losing speed and strength. He was about to make his move when suddenly he felt the presence of someone next to him and before he could react pain erupted from his jaw. The force of the hit was so strong that he was sent flying for several feet until he stopped. Feeling that his jaw was not just broken but shattered he knew who had arrived. There was only one with that kind of strength.

"Hello Orochimaru." Tsunade greeted her former teammate while cracking her knuckles.

"Tsunade, what a surprise seeing you here." Orochimaru said trying not to sound surprised. "I never thought to see you in this village again."

"What can I say? I met someone who showed the errors I made." Tsunade shrugged while Jiraiya joined her. "Now, what should we do about you?"

Orochimaru cursed inside his head. There was no way he could deal with both Tsunade and Jiraiya; not to mention the other Konoha shinobi who had been arriving as well on the roof. He even recognized his former student. His plans were ruined and if he didn't got out of here soon, his life would end too. Suddenly he spotted his way out.

"I think you have other things to worry about." Orochimaru laughed and he pointed to the forest just behind him.

The Konoha shinobi turned around and gasped as they saw the Ichibi standing there. Everyone who had survived the Kyuubi attack started remembering the fear and helplessness when it came to fighting a Bijuu. Nobody could stand up to a Bijuu attack and it was only the sacrifice of their beloved Yondaime that had saved them and the village all those years ago.

"Seems I get my revenge after all." Orochimaru laughed before he disappeared in flames. "Have fun dealing with the Ichibi."

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?" one of the remaining ANBU said. Their first task was to protect the Hokage and so far they didn't get much of a chance to do their jobs.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." The Sandaime said. "Tsunade and Jiraiya will help me, go help in the village. I want every Suna-nin captured but unharmed if possible. The Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru some time ago and he took his place leading them into war. This isn't their fault, still those that refuse to surrender are to be terminated. The Oto-nin are to be disposed off as they are probably brainwashed to be loyal to Orochimaru."

"Understood." The ANBU said going to relay the orders to his fellow ANBU and the other Konoha shinobi.

"Hokage-sama what about the Ichibi?" one of the shinobi said.

"So far, it seems that its attention is elsewhere. Let's hope it stays that way a little longer." The Sandaime said worried. His words weren't even cold when suddenly a large toad appeared in front of the Ichibi and even from that distance they could see a blond-haired girl standing on top it its head.

"That's Naru-chan." Haku exclaimed happily that her girlfriend was okay.

"No way, how does she intent to stop the Ichibi?" one of the shinobi in the crowd said shocked.

"What are you standing around for? Go help the ANBU in rounding up the invading forces." Jiraiya ordered sternly. "This is no time to just stand there and watch others fight."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sama." The shinobi quickly said before getting to work as well.

"Naruko, please be careful." Jiraiya said softly.

"What? Aren't you going to help her?" Tsunade said shocked.

"Nope, Naruko needs the experience." Jiraiya explained. "I can't tell you much about it right now but just know that Naruko needs to learn how to deal with fighting such powerful opponents. Don't worry though, if things go south I'll intervene but not yet." He then jumped to the next roof heading towards the forest while Tsunade told her sensei to sit down so she could examine him for any injuries.

"I'm fine Tsunade." The Sandaime sighed tired. "I'll rest later, for now I need to be present to lead the village. A Hokage is the one who shoulders the burden of leading the village. If I'm not present, people will panic and that's the last thing we need right now. It's enough that we have to deal with a Bijuu again. Even if it's one released by its jailer."

"Don't get angry at me for this but don't you think it's about time you give that burden to someone else?" Tsunade said softly. "You've given so much to this village already, let someone else take the burden."

"And who might that person be, Tsunade?" The Sandaime smiled sadly. "Danzo? I'd rather not have him become the leader of our village."

Tsunade shuddered at the thought of that war-obsessed man leading the village her great-grandfather had founded. If that man ever got the seat of Hokage, than Konoha would surely get destroyed one way or the other. Danzo, and several other for that matter, was one of those people who believed that to keep the village prospering, they needed war. But to do war you needed soldiers, soldiers that obeyed your every demand without questioning. That was the foundation of his ROOT division. Complete and utter loyalty to Danzo was a requirement that was drilled into their heads. If Danzo demanded that you kill your closed friend because it would do the village good, than you did just that. If he asked to kill every infant in the village, then that's what they would do. No, if that man ever got in power then Tsunade would rather die than to see what would happen to the village.

* * *

Naruko stared in amazement and in horror at the giant tanuki made out of sand standing in front of her. It was easily twice the size of the Hokage Tower if not bigger and its voice was loud enough to burst eardrums. For the first time since the night that drunken man had attacked her, Naruko felt afraid. This was a Bijuu standing in front of her. A real, honest to the Rikudo Sennin, Bijuu. Just like the one that had attacked Konoha all those years ago and had changed her life forever. The Kyuubi had taken away her parents and the possibility for her to be a normal kunoichi of Konoha and not the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

Fear was gripping her heart and for a few seconds she thought she was going to die. A kunoichi, just recently promoted to Chuunin surely didn't stand a chance against a monster like that. For a few seconds she almost gave in to the fear. For a few seconds she was prepared to die at the giant paws of the Ichibi. But then fear made room for new emotions. Determination. Anger. Stubbornness. Love.

Determination, understanding the need that someone had to do something. Understanding that she was that person and that everyone counted on her. Knowing that she needed to stop this monster from destroying everything she held dear.

Anger, for that monster threatened her family and friends. It wanted to destroy her village and kill everyone living there. That included her adopted grandfather, the one who had supported her throughout her entire life. Her adopted sisters, Anko and Yuugao, the ones who taught her what it meant to be part of a family. Haku, her girlfriend and probably the most important person in her life. Lastly, her village. The village her parents had died to protect and the village that she loved so much, even though it didn't always treat her right.

Stubbornness, because she wasn't about to die without a fight. Not once in her life had she given up on anything. Not even when she was alone and lonely. Not when that man attacked her. Not when Haku needed her friendship. No, giving up was not something that Naruko was about to do.

Love, for her family and friends. Love for her girlfriend and her village. Nobody, no matter how strong or big, messed with her loved ones. Those who did, paid the price.

Naruko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In a second she imagined all the people she loved and treasured and that instant she knew she could do this. She wasn't alone, she had people who she could count on and that counted on her. Cutting her thumb on the sharp edge of one of her Tanto, she opened her eyes and fast as lighting she went through the necessary handseals before slamming her hand down onto the ground. A loud "Kuchiyose No Jutsu" later and she stood proudly on top her partner in the coming fight.

"Yo, Naruko-chan." Gamabunta said spotting the girl on top of his head. "Need my help again huh?"

"Yes, Bunta-sama. No shinobi this time but something your size." Naruko told him while pointing to the Tanuki headed towards the village.

"The Ichibi huh?" Gamabunta said calmly. "It's been awhile since I faced one. Last time was with your dad."

"I know." Naruko solemnly said.

"Like father, like daughter." Gamabunta laughed.

"We can reminisce later but now we have to stop this one from getting to the village." Naruko pressed. "The village might not survive a second Bijuu attack."

"Got it." Gamabunta nodded. "Hold on tight."

Gamabunta then jumped forward forcing Naruko to channel chakra into her feet so she could stay on top of his head. The force of the wind caused by the jump was almost enough to knock her right off. The jump was so powerful that Gamabunta jumped over the Ichibi and landed in front of him, landing between him and the village. The ground shook as the giant Toad landed and trees were ripped out or crushed underneath his weight.

"WHO DARES INTERFERE?" the Ichibi roared furious. "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS I'VE BEEN OUT AND NOBODY WILL STOP ME FROM KILLING EVERYONE IN THAT VILLAGE."

Naruko stared at the tanuki and saw the limp figure of Gaara on its forehead. From what she could see the boy was unconscious. Gamabunta noticed it too and explained to her that the hosts of Shukaku all had to deal with insomnia. If they slept the demon would eat at their personality. Therefore all hosts had a lack of sleep since the day became the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi. More often than not this lack of sleep led to some form of insanity as they got older.

"But Gaara is unconscious right now, then how come the Ichibi is free?" she questioned.

"It's because he probably used some kind of jutsu to make him fall asleep or something like that." Gamabunta said. "This way he gave control to the Ichibi. You okay, chakra wise?"

"I'm on my last reserves but I have a way to deal with that." Naruko told him. "I'd rather not use it but I think we don't have a chance otherwise. Can you beat him?"

"Not without your help." Gamabunta answered. "That's the way of the Toads. We work together to accomplish the things we can't do on our own."

"Gotcha." Naruko said before she focused back on the Ichibi.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" the Ichibi roared and he prepared his first attack. He gathered a great amount of air in his lungs before he spit out several balls of compressed air toward Naruko and Gamabunta.

"Hold on tight." Gamabunta warned her and he jumped high in the air dodging the first two balls of air. He then went through some seals as well and used a Suiton jutsu that formed large balls of water to counter the Ichibi's attack.

"Bunta, we need to get him away from Konoha." Naruko yelled over all the noise.

"Easier said than done." Gamabunta grunted but he agreed as well. One of those balls of air could easily destroy several buildings. He grabbed his Tanto and engaged the Ichibi as soon as he landed. The attack didn't do much damage however as the Ichibi was a hard as diamonds and on top of that he lost the Tanto during the attack.

"He's one tough bastard." Gamabunta cursed loudly.

The Ichibi however had started a new attack and used the sand from his surroundings to grow his arm longer. Gamabunta easily evaded the attack by jumping sideways but when the Ichibi's tail came from the other side, he couldn't do anything. The attack hit him straight on and both Naruko and Gamabunta were send flying. The attack was enough to change the landscape by destroying hundred of trees and even made a small crater were Gamabunta landed. Naruko, who had been holding on to his forehead by chakra, fell off when he impacted with the ground and only barely managed to land on her feet.

"Gamabunta, are you okay?" She yelled at her friend. When he started to move slightly she relaxed and ran towards him again.

"I'm fine but I can't take a hit like that again." Gamabunta told her. Even for someone his size and strength, the Ichibi was a very though opponent. One mistake or misjudgment could mean the end of the battle and your life.

"So how do we beat him?" Naruko asked breathing deeply. She was getting tired.

"We have to wake up the medium." Gamabunta said while keeping an eye on the Ichibi standing there laughing at the succeeded attack. "How much chakra do you have left?"

"Not much but there still something I can do." Naruko admitted. "Give me a few seconds."

"Better hurry up while he's still celebrating." Gamabunta answered.

Naruko nodded and went through several handseals before she used the "Ninpou: Chakra Chikuden Kai". Gamabunta looked in shock as he felt an enormous amount of chakra being released and when he noticed the markings on Naruko's face spread he asked her what she just did. Naruko quickly explained what she had done and where she and Haku had gotten the idea for this jutsu. Now that she was back at full strength, at least chakra wise, as fatigue and soreness didn't disappear with this jutsu, Naruko started thinking about a way to defeat Gaara. She really didn't want to kill the poor guy as he was as much a victim as she was. No, she wanted to stop him without ending his life. Sure, he was a bit messed up but then again who wouldn't be after living the life he had. Suddenly she had an idea as to how to stop him.

"Bunta-sama, I have an idea but I'll need some time to prepare." Naruko whispered.

"How much time are we talking about here." Gamabunta frowned. "I don't know if I can hold him off for longer than a few seconds on my own."

"I'd need about thirty seconds for this jutsu." Naruko said.

"That's too much for me alone but if you summon Gamaken to help me we could do it." Gamabunta told her.

"Got it." Naruko said before she jumped of Gamabunta's head and did the necessary seals during her fall. She had summoned Gamaken only once before but never had she summoned him to help during a fight. She wondered what the Toad was capable of. She landed on Gamaken's head and greeted him.

"Naruko, Gamabunta-sama why have you called me?" Gamaken said surprised.

"I need you help holding him off for about thirty seconds." Gamabunta said pointing to the Ichibi.

"A Bijuu? Here?" Gamaken said shocked. "I don't know….."

"Relax, it's not a fully powered Bijuu." Gamabunta said. "He's being given control by his jailer but we need to stop him before he destroys Konoha."

"Please Gamaken, I really need your help." Naruko pleaded.

"Very well." Gamaken sighed. He was a sucker for crying women.


	23. Chapter 23

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone, welcome to the next chapter of this story. I know, I know, it's been way to long between updates but I can't help it. Busy, busy and busy. That's what the past few months have been like. Wish I could say it will get better but unfortunately, both for you and me, I've seen now signs of things slowing down.

Anyway enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Three: A battle won

Meanwhile in Konoha, the ANBU and the rest of the Konoha shinobi had almost finished rounding up the invading forces. It wasn't all that difficult as once the Suna Shinobi saw the Ichibi heading their way, they either fled or surrendered on the spot. They were well aware that Gaara wouldn't care about killing them as well when he destroyed Konoha once he released the Ichibi. That and when they were told that Orochimaru had killed the Sandaime Kazekage, fooling them into starting a war they couldn't win, their desire to fight disappeared like snow on a hot summer day.

The remaining Oto Shinobi were shown no merci and those unwilling to surrender were killed. Those who managed to get away, though few did, headed in the opposite direction of the Ichibi and silently vowed never to return to Konoha. While some of their attacks had worked and they surely struck a few blows to Konoha and its population, the attack was way less successful than Orochimaru had promised them. He had promised them women, money, fame and fortune if they followed him but mostly they received a painful death. Those who had seen their friends fall to the counterattacks, knew that their surprise attack was anything but a surprise attack and thus it was obvious that Konoha was aware of the invasion and had planned ahead. No, the best thing to do was to flee and never return to Konoha again.

The Sandaime was busy giving orders to his ninja as they needed to minimize the time needed for them to recover. No doubt word would spread around the Shinobi nations that Konoha had been invaded. That alone was cause for worry as, while at peace, there were feelings of resentment and jealousy towards Konoha from almost all major Shinobi villages. It wouldn't do to survive the invasion if they were attacked again by another village, driven by revenge or hungry for power. Once he finished giving out orders he asked to be informed of everything since the start of the invasion, now several hours ago.

"Sir, thanks to our preparations the civilian casualties are low." One of the shinobi charged with the evacuation told him. "Most casualties originated from the panic and not by enemy force. Also thanks to Tsunade-sama and the medic-nin, any injuries that were serious enough to be treated were taken care of. We do not foresee any more deaths due to injuries in the civilian population."

"Excellent work, Shigeru-san." The Sandaime said. "Please thank everyone who helped with the evacuation and tell them I'm proud to work with each and everyone."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Shigeru bowed and disappeared to tell his companions the news.

"Tsunade, what the word on casualties on the shinobi side." The Sandaime asked fearing her answer.

"Truthfully, it could have been a lot worse." Tsunade said. "The first wave saw almost no casualties thanks to the element of surprise. The second wave and the breaching of the village brought a lot more injuries but relative little losses. Most injuries were easily treatable though some will no longer be able to be a shinobi."

"I hate that part of being Hokage." The Sandaime said. "Telling someone who has trained and sacrificed everything in order to become strong, that they can no longer be of any use is the worst."

"I know but it could have been worse." Tsunade sad. "As it is now we lost about twenty shinobi in the invasion, not counting those who are still being treated and are not suspected to make it."

"Such a waste of human life." The Sandaime sighed. "And for what? Revenge for one small minded person. I should have killed him all those years ago."

"Now's not the time to worry about that." Tsunade said with force. "Konoha needs its Hokage. Isn't that what you told me a few moments ago?"

"You're right of course." The Sandaime nodded. "I'll mourn later. How is Haku?"

"She's fine." Tsunade said. "She's tired and worried about Naruko." Tsunade looked at where Naruko was standing on Gamabunta's head facing the Ichibi. "Which is understandable. Hell, I'm worried too."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's counting on us the protect the village." The Sandaime said. "Besides, Jiraiya won't let anything happen to her."

"He better not if he knows what's good for him." Tsunade growled loudly.

Several rooftops away Yuugao and Anko were busy trying to stop Haku from going to Naruko. Haku was worried sick and feared for the life of her girlfriend. If something happened to Naruko, she doubted that she would survive it. She had lost her parents and later on Zabuza-sama, and while she loved them greatly, the love for them was nothing compared to what she felt for Naruko.

"Let me go!" Haku pleaded trashing around in Yuugao's arms, tears running down her cheeks. "I need to get to Naruko."

"No, We can't let you do that." Yuugao said her heart bleeding at the sight of her younger sister. "There's nothing you can do to help her."

"Naruko-chan needs my help." Haku screamed in tears. "I can't let anything happen to her."

"Haku-chan listen to me" Anko said grabbing the girl in a tight hug. "Naruko-chan will be fine. Jiraiya-sama is heading her way. He'll make sure nothing happens to her. If you go there, you might get in the way. Naruko needs to concentrate and if you're there she'll be worried that you'll get hurt. She won't be able to fight with her full strength."

"But…" Haku tried once more.

"Anko is right." Yuugao said joining. "Trust me Haku-chan, there nothing more I'd like to do then to help her but we can't. Naruko-chan is the only one who has a chance right now. She understands better than anyone what this boy has gone through even if their lives were totally different. I'm sure she's thinking of a way to help him instead of just killing him."

Haku dropped to her knees and cried before she stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. Naruko wouldn't want her to be like this she realized. She would have to believe in her girlfriend and hope for the best. She concentrated on the fight and watched as Gamabunta got hit by the Ichibi's tail. Yuugao and Anko placed their hands on her shoulders, showing her that they too were worried for Naruko.

Now that the fighting was mostly over, the Jounin sensei and their students had joined up and they too were watching the battle with the Ichibi. Of course, the Genin had to be explained what exactly had been going on and seeing that the invasion was over the Jounin sensei told them everything that had been discovered by Naruko and Haku. Needles to say the Genin were shocked that Naruko and Haku were Chuunin already and that they had discovered the plot against Konoha all those months ago. Kakashi and the rest of the Jounin sensei explained that for the past couple of months they had been secretly preparing for war without anyone finding out.

"Wait a minute, why weren't we told?" Kiba asked angry. "We're shinobi of Konoha as well."

"While that may be true Kiba, you're also still Genin." Kurenai explained. "We couldn't take any chance of one of you being caught and revealing that we were aware of the attack. If that had happened, the enemy might have attacked sooner or brought much more manpower. It was to protect Konoha and everyone living here. I hope you understand that."

"It's not that I don't understand Kurenai-sensei but I wanted to help out." Kiba grudgingly admitted.

"Kiba, there will be many times in the future where you can help out." Asuma said. "You don't seem to realize the impact that this invasion will have."

"What do you mean Asuma-sensei." Ino asked curiously.

"It's quite simple actually." Asuma started. "Ever since the last war all the villages have been in a state of disarming. After the war, every village lost many shinobi and even now we're still recuperating from the horrors of that war. Since then every village involved has been slowly getting back to the numbers we had before, and because of that tension has been rising."

"I haven't seen anything of the sort." Ino interrupted.

"Of course you haven't. You're a Genin, which means that there are things that are still kept from you." Asuma said. "Genin are purposely kept in the dark so they can prepare and get stronger without having to worry about those things. Anyway, when the other villages will hear about Konoha defeating not only one village but two at the same time, they'll get suspicious of us. They'll think we've gotten much stronger than we actually are."

"But won't that make them more careful not to anger us?" Chouji asked his sensei.

"That's certainly a way they could react." Kakashi said. "But most likely they'll want to know how we got so strong and what we did to achieve that power. Regardless of the fact that we were very lucky that Naruko had seen Mizuki that night. They'll start investigating and try to find ways to get stronger themselves. And the best way to do that is to make treaties with another village."

"Just like Suna and Oto did." Hinata remarked speaking for the first time.

"Exactly, can you imagine if Iwa or Kumo joined up with someone like Orochimaru?" Kakashi nodded.

"We'd be in trouble." Kiba nodded in understanding.

Kakashi was stopped from talking when suddenly Shino and Shikamaru arrived in front of them, both carrying someone. The Jounin sensei sprang into action, demanding what had happened. The other Genin were staring at them in shock.

"Sakura is badly wounded." Kakashi said after checking her up. "She needs to get to the hospital and quickly."

"Tsunade-sama is still over there with the Sandaime." Kurenai said taking the girl in her arms and headed towards the medic nin.

"Sasuke is just knocked out but he has several bruises and perhaps a few broken bones." Asuma said. "He'll be fine once he gets to a hospital." He too brought Sasuke to Tsunade while Kakashi grilled Shino and Shikamaru about what had happened.

"Sakura, Shino and I followed Sasuke to where he was fighting Gaara." Shikamaru explained. "He got his butt handed to him and was about to be killed when Naruko arrived and ordered us to leave. Of course Sasuke didn't like that and he reengaged Gaara again. He was so mad that he didn't see Gaara's attack and he would have gotten himself killed if Sakura didn't shove him out of the way. Unfortunately, Sakura got hurt and Naruko knocked him out and ordered us to get them into safety."

"Thank you Shikamaru." Kakashi sighed before he went to see what Tsunade had to say about his students injuries. "How are they?"

"Sakura here is badly wounded but I managed to close most of her injuries." Tsunade started. "She did lose a lot of blood however and she'll need some time to recover but she's not in any danger of dying. I'll have taken to the hospital and be treated as a level B patient."

"Level B?" Kakashi asked.

"Seriously but non-life threateningly injured." Tsunade explained. "The Uchiha boy is just unconscious but does have several fractured ribs and bones. He'll be fine in a week or two."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said relieved that his students would be okay.

"Don't mention it." Tsunade shrugged.

Just then everyone noticed a second Toad appear where Naruko had been fighting Gaara. This of course made the Genin present wonder just how strong Naruko had gotten since her graduation and all of them wondered where she had gotten the ability to summon the Yondaime's summons.

"How does she get to summon Toads?" Shikamaru asked to himself. He was one of those people who loved a mystery as long as it wasn't to troublesome to solve it.

Everyone watched as the fight started once more and both Toads engaged the Ichibi in battle.

Now that Gamaken had been summoned and agree to help, Naruko started concentrating on her jutsu. This was without a doubt the strongest jutsu in her arsenal and while time- and chakra consuming, she had no doubt that it would defeat Gaara. She only hoped that she didn't overload the jutsu and killed him by accident. Still, it was the only way she could think of to stop him. She jumped off Gamabunta and asked him to distract the Ichibi long enough for her to prepare. She hid in the forest around her and put her hands together. At first the palms of her hands touched each other but then she separated them so than only the tips of her fingers were touching each other. In the space between a small spark of Raiton chakra appeared and Naruko smiled. This was the hardest part of the jutsu and she needed time to stabilize the chakra, lest it explode in her face. Ignoring the sound of battle between the two Toads and the Ichibi, she continued feeding chakra to the spark and soon it started growing. The more chakra she fed it the bigger it got and soon she had to move her hand outwards as the spark of Raiton chakra had transformed into a crackling ball of Raiton chakra. Seeing that she was almost ready she moved through the trees heading towards Gamabunta. She had to move slowly as she couldn't stop concentrating. When she reached him she quickly called to him and he turned towards her.

"What is it?" Gamabunta asked annoyed. "In case you haven't noticed we're a little busy here."

"I'm ready." Naruko said. "I need you to launch me into the sky as high as you can. The higher the better. Once you did that, I need you and Gamaken to jump back as far as you can. Trust me, you do not want to get caught in the blast."

"Got it." Gamabunta said before he used his tongue to grab Naruko. With one movement he threw her into the air and quickly told Gamaken to clear the area.

Naruko struggled to keep the jutsu active as she was sent flying and just barely managed to do so. Clearly this jutsu needed some afterthought and some adjustment. Nonetheless, it was time to test it out for the first time at full power. Once she started falling she took aim and raised her hands above her head. Seeing that the Ichibi was puzzled why his opponents were retreating she didn't waste any time and brought her hands down. The second she did the ball of Raiton chakra transformed into a bolt of Lightning heading towards the Ichibi. The bolt of lightning was so big that it was easily the width of the Ichibi and it encased him totally.

The Ichibi had no chance whatsoever to dodge the bolt of lightning and screamed in pain and agony as it hit him. Not only did it shock him but the heat coming from the lightning was so hot that the sand out of which he was made started to turn into glass. For several seconds the Ichibi was submitted to the lightning and when it finally dissipated, half of his body was transformed into glass making it impossible to move.

Naruko watched as her attack struck aim and she stared at the result. She had expected something big but nothing like this. The jutsu was way more powerful than she ever expected and she feared for Gaara's life. She hadn't intended to kill him but now she feared that she had done exactly what she had tried to prevent. She was still falling when suddenly she was wrapped in Gamabunta's tongue once more.

"Thanks Bunta-sama." Naruko said relieved. "I hadn't really thought about the landing yet."

"Thank me later, wake up the medium before the Ichibi does something about that glass." Gamabunta told her.

"Got it" Naruko said exhausted. Gamabunta jumped to right before the Ichibi and Naruko jumped straight towards Gaara was. As by miracle, Gaara seemed relatively unharmed by her attack, he had a few burns on his arms and body but nothing more. Naruko threw back her fist and put every bit of strength that she had left into the punch. The punch was so strong that Gaara was pulled out of the forehead of the Ichibi and was send tumbling to the ground. Naruko just barely managed to grab him by the collar preventing him from crashing him into the ground. She gently laid him on Bunta's tongue who lowered him to the ground while Naruko climbed on top of his head.

The Ichibi yelled loudly that he wasn't ready to return to being imprisoned but nothing helped. As soon as Gaara opened his eyes the Ichibi started to crumble until nothing was left. Naruko closed her eyes and let herself fall, too exhausted to stay standing a second longer. She didn't fall very far however as a pair of arms caught her in midair. She opened her eyes only to see the proud and smiling face of her godfather.

"Hi, J-Jiraiya-kyoufu." Naruko managed to say weakly. "Is it over?"

"Yes, you did it." Jiraiya said hugging the girl close. "You were amazing Naru-chan. I'm so proud of you and I'm sure your parents are beaming with pride as well."

"T-thanks." Naruko blushed at the praise. "Is Gaara alright? I didn't mean to hurt him that much. He's a Jinchuuriki like me but his life was so much worse than mine. He didn't deserve that life."

"He's fine." Jiraiya reassured her. "Don't worry about him, I'll take care of everything. Just rest for now."

Naruko did as she was told and promptly fell asleep in his arms. Jiraiya gently lowered her to the ground. Gamaken bid his goodbyes. Gamabunta however stayed a bit longer.

"She's one hell of a shinobi." Gamabunta said to Jiraiya.

"She sure is." Jiraiya agreed.

"Teach her our ways, Jiraiya." Gamabunta said. "I have no doubt that she'll be even greater than her father was."

"I plan on it, Gamabunta." Jiraiya nodded.

"It's time for me to go. I'm running on fumes as it is." Gamabunta said before disappearing.

Jiraiya looked over at Gaara and saw that the boy was awake but barely. He was clearly in pain and struggling to stay awake. Jiraiya went over to him and sat next to him.

"You know, the two of you are much alike." He said to Gaara. "You may not believe me but Naruko understands better than everyone what you've gone through. Like you, she's not well liked in the village for a reason I can't discuss. More than anyone she understands the pain of being alone in the world." When Gaara didn't answer Jiraiya continued. "However, she managed to find some people who care for her and that saved her from that hell. There's no reason that you can't do the same thing, you know."

"How did she get so strong?" Gaara managed to say.

"We in Konoha believe that when one is fighting to protect the people they love, they will be strong enough to defeat any obstacle." Jiraiya smiled. "Only when one is fighting for those they love can they achieve true strength."

"People they love?" Gaara whispered. "I don't have people like that."

"Are you sure?" Jiraiya questioned knowingly. "Because there are two people standing in the bushes behind me, watching my every move. You two can come out now."

Temari and Kankuro were surprised that they had been discovered but they did as they were told. Kankuro seemed uncertain but Temari rushed to her little brother, clearly concerned about him. She relaxed when she saw him and sat next to him, holding his hand. Gaara's eyes widened in shock as his sand didn't protest and for the first time he felt good.

"See what I mean?" Jiraiya said. "You just have to look hard enough."

"What's going to happen to us?" Kankuro asked silently. He recognized the shinobi sitting next to his brother and he knew there was no way they would get out of here alive if that man wanted them dead.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you if that's what you think." Jiraiya said. "We found out that Orochimaru had been impersonating the Kazekage for quite a while now. I'm sorry to say that your father is most likely dead."

"I'm not." Temari said angry. "Our father was a terrible man and his reign almost destroyed Suna. He sacrificed his own son to get a weapon that he wanted rid of once he found out that he couldn't control Gaara. He was a terrible father and an even worse Kazekage. I only hope that our next leader is someone who thinks about his people instead of his reputation."

"I see. Well in any case, since most Suna shinobi surrendered and were tricked, I doubt there'll be much repercussion towards Suna." Jiraiya told them. He chuckled when he saw the male Suna-shinobi with the war paint on relax and breath more easily. Not that he blamed him for being nervous of course.

In Konoha everyone had seen the enormous bolt of lightning appear and they watched in fascination as the Ichibi got defeat by a mere Chuunin, only promoted several months ago. Haku had bolted out of Yuugao's arms as soon as they realized that Naruko had won and the two other women were hot on her heels as well. Tsunade and the Sandaime joined as well making almost every available and present shinobi, meaning the Jounin sensei and their charges, followed as well.

It didn't take Haku very long to get where Naruko was as it seemed that her worries for her girlfriend enabled her to travel much faster than usually. When she noticed Naruko lying on the ground she feared the worst but she relaxed when she noticed Jiraiya smiling. If he was smiling then Naruko was fine. She sat down next to her girlfriend, now noticing that she was soundly asleep. She gently lifted Naruko's head and placed it in her lap, while caressing her blond hair. The outside world vanished for Haku as she thanked whatever god that was out there that her lover and best friend was fine.

Yuugao and Anko sat down next to her and they too were relieved that Naruko was okay. Yuugao gently place a small kiss on Naruko's forehead, whispering how proud she was of her. Anko did the same thing and hugged Haku as well. Tsunade then took charge and ordered them to take Naruko to the hospital so she could rest and be examined for any injuries.

Meanwhile Jiraiya was discussing the fate of Gaara and his sibling with the Sandaime. As expected the Sandaime agreed not to arrest them and asked Tsunade to take a look at Gaara's injuries as well. The Jounin sensei seemed to accept that but the Genin were surprised that they would receive help and medical treatment after their village attacked them.

"Remember this well, all of you." The Sandaime said. "There may come a time when you'll find yourself in the same position. There might be a time where you'll be asked to do things, things that you don't agree with but you still have do them. In this case Suna was tricked by Orochimaru and they were led into a war they didn't believe in. Now that Suna has realized that they were tricked, they are no longer our enemies but victims of the same man, just like us."

The Genin nodded not daring to ignore the Sandaime's words nodded and all of them left for Konoha. Haku refused to let go of Naruko so Jiraiya summoned a Toad to carry them all the way. Gaara was transported by the Toad as well and they safely reached the hospital where Shizune quickly led them to a room.

Tsunade quickly did a throughout exam of Naruko but found nothing but sheer exhaustion. Most of her scratches and wounds had healed or were in the process of healing on their own. All Naruko needed was a lot of rest. When Naruko was transported to her room and safely put in bed, Tsunade ordered everyone out so the girl could sleep in peace. Everyone but one person obeyed.

"Haku-chan, come on." Yuugao said noticing that Haku stayed behind.

"I'm staying." Haku said defiantly.

"Naruko will be fine. You can visit her tomorrow." Tsunade said softly. While she understood that Haku wanted to stay, the hospital wasn't a hotel.

"I'm staying." Haku repeated before she crawled into Naruko's bed, hugging the girl close.

Tsunade frowned and was about to drag Haku with her when the Sandaime shook his head. Tsunade sighed but relented when she noticed that Haku too had fallen asleep already. Going over to the bed, Tsunade grabbed the blanket and tucked both girls in. With a small smile she kissed both girls on the forehead and left the room but not before she looked back one more time with pride showing on her face.

"Never thought that Haku-chan could be so defiant." Anko chuckled softly.

"Yes well, she's just worried about Naruko-chan." Yuugao smiled. "I think it's sweet."

While Naruko and Haku were soundly asleep, both exhausted from the day and the taxing battles they had done, the remaining shinobi of Konoha finished rounding up the invading forces and made sure Konoha was protected. In the end the invasion had caused less damage than expected and that was mostly thanks to the advanced planning they had done. Everyone knew that if they had been caught unaware, things would be a lot different.

The Sandaime collapsed into his soft chair later that night after he was done giving out orders. His old bones were begging for rest and frankly it was all he could do to stay awake at the moment. He had assigned ANBU to take shifts with the Jounin to protect Konoha through the night, while Chuunin would guard the prison where the Oto shinobi had been taken. The Suna shinobi were under supervision but weren't imprisoned unless they had resisted or refused to surrender. Those would be handed over to Suna once the village was back on its feet.

Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were allowed to spend the night at a hotel room as no Suna shinobi wanted to stay with Gaara out of fear. They were treated well and while Temari stayed awake with Gaara for several more hours, Kankuro had called it a night the moment he saw the bed. Their Jounin sensei was appointed to deliver the news to Suna so they could start peace talks as soon as possible.

Tsunade and Shizune stayed at the hospital hoping that they wouldn't be needed with the remaining injured. Most of the injured shinobi had been taken care of but some of them were still in critical condition. Already two of those who weren't expected to survive the night had succumbed to their injuries. They hoped it stayed at those two but chance were slim to say the least.

Jiraiya took guard at Naruko's and Haku's door as he didn't want anyone to bother them until they awoke on their own. Already rumors about the two of them were going around. The shinobi who had fought alongside them told everyone of their strength and everyone loved a hero. Added to that was that Naruko defeated a Jinchuuriki who released his Bijuu and the circus was complete. Jiraiya sighed as he knew all too well what this meant for the girls. Contrary to what people thought, notoriety wasn't a good thing for a shinobi as the more other shinobi knew about you, the more they could prepare for when they had to fight you. Facing an enemy who knows by advance what kind of techniques you use, only makes it harder to defeat them as you lose the element of surprise. Sure, some enemies might be intimidated by you but those were hardly worth the effort. The real enemies would take that knowledge and use it against you. Therefore it would be imperative for both girls to keep learning new things and progress in order to keep that ace.

The remaining Genin were told to go home and rest as the next day would be filled with missions and repairs throughout the village. They didn't argue as all of them were tired and emotionally spent from the day. They just had their first real life experience about what it meant to be a shinobi. While they had done some missions and participated in the Chuunin exams, all of that was nothing compared to the feeling they had when they were made aware of the invasion. All of them had thought that Konoha was beyond being defeated but all of them now knew that this was anything but true. They had been under the impression that nothing could deter Konoha but the invasion had opened their eyes. They had just had their first taste of war and each and every one of them hoped that it would be quite some time before it happened again.


	24. Chapter 24

Don't own Naruto in any way.

Hi everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story.

It's been an eventful few weeks in the world of Naruto lately. I must say that these last few chapters have blown me away. I loved the flashback with Kushina and the Kyuubi attack. It brought a lot of new information that I'm going to try and add into this story as well. I'll need to figure out just how but I'll manage, so look forward to it.

Nothing more to say than enjoy the chapter and let me know how you felt about it.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four: The aftermath

Naruko woke up feeling a body pressed against hers and she smiled recognizing the scent of the person next to her. There was only one person who smelled like snow and flowers like that and it was her best friend and girlfriend Haku. She was a bit surprised though as she knew she was laying in a hospital bed and normally no one is allowed to spend the night with a patient. At least not when said patient isn't in any danger or critical condition.

Watching Haku sleep was one of Naruko's favorite pastimes in the morning. When she slept Haku always had the cutest expression on her face. One of total peace and happiness and it was one of Naruko's favorite things to see. She leaned in closer and kissed Haku on the nose, giggling softly when her girlfriend's face reacted to the kiss. Not even bothering to resist kissing her again, she planted a soft kiss on Haku's lips. Now Haku did wake up and when she finally was fully awake she smiled brightly at Naruko before grabbing her in a tight but loving hug.

"Good morning Haku-chan." Naruko laughed softly. "Sleep well."

"Morning and yes, very well thanks to you." Haku nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, a bit sore but fine otherwise." Naruko admitted. "What happened?"

"After you defeated Gaara you fell asleep." Haku explained. "Tsunade-sama gave you a checkup but you were fine. She did say that you were exhausted and would need to take it easy for at least a day or two."

"What about Gaara? Is he okay?" Naruko wanted to know. "I didn't mean to hurt him that badly but I didn't have a choice."

"Relax Naru-chan, he's fine." Haku said quickly. "He and his siblings are resting as well. Apparently, Orochimaru tricked Suna into attacking Konoha by impersonating the Kazekage. Sandaime-ji-chan said that there wouldn't be any repercussion to them personally though I don't know for Suna in a whole. The Suna-nin who surrendered are treated well and should be able to leave for home in a few days."

"What about the Oto-nin?" Naruko asked.

"Those who resisted were terminated while those who surrendered were captured and are awaiting to be questioned by Ibiki-sama." Haku explained.

"Can't say I feel any pity for them." Naruko snorted. "Though Ibiki is quite scary when he's in your face like that. Most Konoha-nin are scared of him. He's a great guy though, pretty strong as well. I saw him take out three enemies in one move on the battlefield and believe me, none of them got up again."

"I was worried about you." Haku said suddenly. "When I saw the Ichibi and then Gamabunta appear, I knew you were fighting him. What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt."

"I'm sorry." Naruko said kissing Haku. "I was on my way to help out at another gate when I noticed some explosions in the forest. Thinking it was some enemies preparing something, I went to check it out. Imagine my surprise when I saw Gaara standing over Sasuke, really to kill him. I had to do something. I mean, I don't like Sasuke very much, pompous ass that he is, but he's still a Konoha shinobi."

"I know." Haku said softly.

"Of course, if he hadn't engaged Gaara then none of this would have happened." Naruko said. "His siblings were taking Gaara away from the battlefield and they would have left but Sasuke followed them and angered Gaara enough to start his transformation again."

"He must have wanted to continue their fight." Haku understood.

"It almost got him killed." Naruko snorted. "That reminds me, how is Sakura? She got hurt while saying Sasuke."

"She'll be fine." Haku said. "She was hurt badly but nothing Tsunade-sama couldn't handle. She'll be out of commission for a while but should make a full recovery."

"That's good." Naruko said relieved.

Suddenly the door opened and Tsunade, Shizune, Yuugao and Anko entered the room. The latter two hurried over to Naruko and gave her a quick hug, telling her how proud and glad they were that she was okay. Haku was told to get out of the bed by Tsunade and unlike the night before, Haku quickly obeyed.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama." Haku apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Tsunade smiled at the girl. "Just don't do it again."

"Do what again?" Naruko wanted to know.

"Your girlfriend refused to leave you last night and even went against my orders." Tsunade said glaring softly at Haku who blushed. "You're lucky I like you girls otherwise I would have dragged you out."

"Oh, come on Baa-chan you know you love us." Naruko laughed loudly.

"Don't call me that!" Tsunade yelled before she was reprimanded by Shizune for yelling inside a hospital. "Ahem, anyway you're off the hook this time. Now all of you get out so I can give Naruko a final check up." They all quickly obeyed and let Tsunade do her thing. "So how are you feeling and don't lie to me."

"I'm a bit sore." Naruko admitted. "I don't think I can use any Chakra just yet. My arms and legs are heavy and I'm having trouble moving around."

"That's to be expected." Tsunade nodded. " Those are symptoms that come with Chakra exhaustion, after all. Well other than that you're in perfect shape. Things would have been different if it wasn't for the healing factor you have."

"Yeah, guess I owe Kyuubi this one." Naruko grinned. "How long must I stay here?"

"If you promise to rest until noon, you can go home this afternoon." Tsunade smiled. "But no training for at least two more days. You need to let your body heal on its own. Don't force anything, it might make things worse. If you still don't feel better by the end of the week, come see me and we'll take a look."

"Thanks, Tsunade-Baa-chan." Naruko said gratefully.

"Don't call me that." Tsunade glared but softened before she gave Naruko a hug. "You scared me back there. Don't do it again, you hear me?"

"I won't." Naruko promised. "How is Ji-chan?"

"He's fine, it will take more than that to get rid of the old monkey." Tsunade grinned. "He's tired and cranky but other than that he's fine. I think the fight with Orochimaru showed him that he isn't that young anymore. He might need some cheering up if you know what I mean."

"He'll get over it." Naruko said. "Just let him read some of those orange books he likes so much."

"You know about those?" Tsunade asked surprised.

"Of course." Naruko snorted. "He thinks I'm unaware of them but I caught him a few times off guard. I know he's reading them and I even know it's Jiraiya-kyoufu who writes them. It doesn't bother me so much anymore. I'm glad though that both of them make an effort to act normal when I'm around."

"Well, let's not tell them shall we." Tsunade smiled. "That way they'll behave themselves. I kind of like the non-perverted version of Jiraiya, he's not as annoying and irritating when you're around."

"Got it." Naruko grinned.

"Alright back to bed and get some rest." Tsunade ordered her fellow blonde.

"Can Haku-chan stay with me?" Naruko pleaded.

"Fine but only this once." Tsunade sighed knowing that she couldn't refuse. "But no fooling around, you hear me?"

When Naruko's door opened everyone rushed back inside to hear if everything was okay. Tsunade quickly reassured them all saying that if she took it easy for the next couple of days, Naruko would be just fine. She then ordered everyone but Haku out so Naruko could rest. Haku smiled brightly and thanked Tsunade for letting her stay with Naruko. Yuugao and Anko promised to come back in the afternoon to help her get home while Tsunade and Shizune went to check up on the other patients that were still in critical condition.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime was dealing with the fall out of the invasion. After a good night rest he felt much better than the night before but he still felt the fatigue in his old bones. Fighting Orochimaru was a lot harder than he had anticipated and he was once more confronted with his age. It didn't bother him all that much normally but now he felt that, quoting a certain Nara, it was troublesome to get old. Nonetheless he was very glad to have survived the battle with his former student. He did realize how close it had been, if Haku hadn't been able to kill two of the four Oto-nin who held up the barrier than he would have be forced to take drastic measures. Luckily it didn't came to that and he was still alive to see his son and family again. Shaking his head he turned to Kakashi who was busy giving his report.

"All in all sir, we have survived an enemy attack with minimal damage and deaths." Kakashi finished his report.

"I agree, what is being done for the damages?" The old Hokage asked.

"Fortunately, Orochimaru's summons didn't breach the walls so damage is limited to buildings inside Konoha." Kakashi answered. "I believe several Chuunin and Genin teams are busy clearing the debris so reparation can start as soon as possible."

"Excellent. What about the other villages? Any news from them?" The Hokage turned to Jiraiya who had just appeared through the window.

"It's only been a few hours so nothing yet but I wouldn't be surprised if word reaches them by tomorrow." Jiraiya said. "I've sent word to my contacts in Iwa and Kumo asking them to keep an ear out. If anything it will strengthen our reputation as strongest village."

"I know and that's what worries me." Sarutobi sighed. "Such unwanted attention is never a good thing. They might think we've been busy strengthening our shinobi forces in order for war or something like that. Having Iwa and Kumo work together again against us would be devastating. We neither have the forces nor the manpower to defend us against such a force."

"I wouldn't worry about it just yet." Jiraiya said. "Iwa is still recuperating from the last great war and is in no position to attack us. Kumo however has been working towards stronger and more shinobi for years. While alone they wouldn't risk attacking us, they might think otherwise if Iwa or worse, Orochimaru makes them an offer."

"Any word on Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked.

"No, he disappeared again." Jiraiya said. "If I had to guess, he's somewhere licking his wounds in a secret base. While we weren't able to dispose of him, we dealt a huge blow to his army and his reputation."

"His pride won't let this go away." The Sandaime said. "It might take a while but he'll be back. This defeat will only make him angrier towards us."

"True but it will be a while before he can do anything about it." Jiraiya nodded. "During that time we should focus on improving our forces and the village. We were lucky that Mizuki is such a lousy shinobi and that Naruko had the sense to warn Yuugao."

"Speaking of Mizuki, where is he?" Kakashi asked interested.

"He's in the gentle care of Anko and Ibiki." Sarutobi said lighting his pipe. "They'll get everything out of him, I have no doubt."

"There's one more thing that worries me." Jiraiya said. "Naruko and Haku are getting very popular amongst the shinobi crowd. Already stories and rumors are being spread about the two of them. With Akatsuki around I don't feel comfortable about that."

"What's Akatsuki?" Kakashi wanted to know. "I never heard of them."

"Akatsuki is a group of S-class missing nin that has been gathering forces for quite some time." Jiraiya explained. "They haven't done much more than gather money and manpower but I know that they are after the Bijuu and thus after Jinchuuriki like Naruko and Gaara. For what purpose I do not know but I'm sure you understand that it can't be something good."

"Do we know which Missing-Nin are involved?" Kakashi said concerned. A group of S-class shinobi is nothing to sneeze at after all. Even he wouldn't want to face one of them, let alone a bunch of them.

"Nothing confirmed but according to rumors Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi are involved with them." Jiraiya said. "Although Orochimaru left them a while back. Other than them, nothing much is known about the group."

"That's…pretty worrisome." Kakashi nodded. "We're not strong enough to deal with those kind of adversaries. I mean, there are only a few shinobi in the village who can go toe to toe with such an opponent, if at all."

"That's why we need to prepare ourselves." Jiraiya said. "Whatever the goal of Akatsuki is, it's bad news for the rest of the world. If we do nothing, it'll bite us in the rear-end sooner or later. I plan to teach Naruko and Haku so they're strong enough when the time comes. You and the other Jounin sensei better step up with the training of your students as well. They'll be the ones to defend the village in a few years."

"I'll speak with Kurenai, Gai and Asuma about it." Kakashi said nodding in agreement.

"Don't mention Akatsuki." Sarutobi warned him. "The less people know, the better. For now at least, once Akatsuki comes into the open, we'll announce it to the rest of the Jounin. Now what were you saying about Naruko and Haku?"

"Like I said, they're getting really popular." Jiraiya sighed. "Naruko, thanks to her Raiton Jutsu and the fact that she defeated the Ichibi. Haku because of her Kekkei Genkai and for saving your life by destroying that barrier that even Anbu couldn't penetrate. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal but for those two it would have been better to stay in the background a few more years. No doubt, those rumors will reach the other villages as well."

"Hmmm, I can see the problem indeed." The Sandaime said softly. "Our village always had a way to have shinobi who make a reputation for themselves at a very young age. Let's hope it doesn't complicate things for them."

* * *

Meanwhile hundreds of miles away, in a country where one of the biggest shinobi villages was located, a messenger hurried to his leader. He had just heard some rumors about the village that they despised the most and after checking its validity, he knew that his leader would be very interested in hearing those rumors. Yoshida was a Chuunin of Iwagakure and while he wasn't the best Chuunin around, he had a talent for picking up interesting news. He had been on a mission when he came upon several shinobi from some village called Otogakure and he had listened in when they were talking. They weren't all that strong as they had never noticed him following them and recording their conversations and once he had learned enough he left them and hurried home.

The Sandaime Tsuchikage, also known as Ryoutenbin no Oonoki, was having a good morning. For once, his hips didn't hurt when he got up and that alone was enough to be a good day for the older Kage. He had been the leader of his village for several decades now and he wasn't about to quit just because of his failing hips but still, it was damn annoying to deal with. He leaned back in his comfy chair remembering the days he had just started out as a shinobi.

'Ah, those were the days.' He thought fondly.

At that time the village were still young and prospered beyond belief. He loved his village and everyone in it and he would have died a thousand times over in order to protect it, just like so many of his friends and family had done over the years. Then the year after the second great shinobi war, where he had made a name for himself, he rose through the ranks until he finally was selected to be the Tsuchikage. He had never been more proud to be a Iwa shinobi as that day. For several years things went pretty good and his village was prospering under his leadership.

But then came the Third Great Shinobi war and everything went to hell. The Third war lasted longer and claimed more lives than the previous two wars and almost every village was involved with the fighting. The disappearance of the Sandaime Kazekage, something which had never been resolved by the way, was the spark that ignited the flames of war after a few years of relative peace between the villages. Suna, in search of their leader, searched high and low and even accused the other villages of having a hand in the disappearance of the Kazekage. This lead to strained relationships between the villages, all accusing the others and eventual Iwagakure and Konohagakure went to war. Iwa and Konoha were the stronger villages and the war quickly turned in their favor making both of them even more hostile against each other. Iwa was on the verge of winning when Konoha brought out their secret weapons. One of them, Konoha's Yellow Flash, quickly turned the tide in Konoha's favor thanks to his Hiraishin no Jutsu. Entire squadrons of Iwa shinobi were killed by that technique, nobody even close to being able to stop him.

It was infuriating to see how quickly things changed after that. Namikaze Minato was a thorn in Iwa's side and alongside him several others made names for themselves. One was Hatake Kakashi, son of Hatake Sakumo, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi later on. It didn't take long after that to see that Iwa was losing the war and to prevent further bloodshed both he and the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, started peace-talks. Peace, if you could call it that, was obtained after several months of heated meetings and discussions but they finally reached an agreement. That had been the last war between the villages but even now the after effects could be seen. It had taken years to get back to their former numbers and even then it was only just in numbers and never in skill. That would take even longer. The old Tsuchikage's reminiscing was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Oonoki sighed knowing his peaceful morning was over.

"Tsuchikage-sama, Matsumoto Yoshida is here to see you." His secretary said. "He says its urgent."

"Very well, let him in." The Tsuchikage nodded wondering what could be that important. The secretary nodded and motioned to the man to come inside before she nodded to her leader and closed the door behind her. "Well Yoshida, what's the matter?"

"Tsuchikage-sama, forgive me my unscheduled arrival but I came into some information that you might find interesting." Yoshida said. "It's about Konoha."

"Konoha? What did they do now?" Oonoki sighed. 'Yep, there goes my morning.'

"I encountered some shinobi from a village called Otogakure." Yoshida said. "Apparently, they had just attacked Konoha together with Sunagakure."

"What? Suna and this Otogakure village attacked Konoha?" Oonoki said shocked. "For what purpose?"

"I don't know sir but that's not the important part." Yoshida continued. "Konoha repelled the combined forces of both villages and came out practically unscathed. Those Oto-nin I followed said that they were lucky to escape and that they weren't going back to Orochimaru of the Sannin."

"Orochimaru? So that guy was involved as well?" Oonoki said surprised. He was well aware of who the Sannin were. He had seen them in action more than once during the war. They were worthy opponents and definitely not to be underestimated. "Any idea on Konoha's losses?"

"No sir, I was unable to find out anything about Konoha itself." Yoshida said. "I only learned that somehow Konoha defeated a combined attack between Suna and Oto."

"Well done Yoshida. I believe this information deserves a reward." Oonoki said. "As of now you're promoted to Tokubetsu Jounin. I want you to travel to Konoha and infiltrate the village and find out as much as you can. Be careful not to draw any attention to yourself. I'm sure we'll receive more information about the attack in the coming days. Still, I want you to go and find out how Konoha became strong enough to defeat such an attack."

"Yes sir, I will not fail you." Yoshida said before disappearing.

"It seems Konoha has started to move again." Oonoki muttered to himself. "Well, in that case Iwa will not fall behind." Oonoki turned his chair back to his office and called for a meeting with his advisors and strongest shinobi. He didn't know how Konoha had managed to repel two attacking villages but however they did it meant that they had once again been getting stronger and that couldn't be allowed. The frail peace they had right now was only because all the major shinobi villages had been around the same strength. If one village, be it Konoha or another, once more got ahead of the others, it would lead to a race to show who's stronger again and that was the last thing Iwa needed. No, war definitely wasn't advisable right now.

* * *

Iwa wasn't the only one who had spies and informants in Hi no Kuni. All major Shinobi villages had their own way of obtaining information. Konoha had Jiraiya's spy network and while none of the other villages had such an elaborate system, they simple had sleeper agents in place. People who lived everyday lives but used those lives to collect information they sometimes came upon.

Mizuhashi Yuriko was one of those sleeper agents. She worked in a hostess bar where a lot of men came to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. She had been working there for quite some time now and she was one of the more exclusive girls in the place. To earn the pleasure of her services one had to be rich, handsome and well connected. Yuriko had grown up in the city and quickly learned that her beauty was something she could use to seduce men to get what she wanted. And she wanted a lot of things. She had no problem with using her body to get what she wanted. After all, if you got, flaunt it. So when she was old enough she started out as a hostess in an bar and quickly made a reputation for herself. While in the beginning she had to tolerate men of the lower class of society touch her and use her, something she didn't like all that much. Those men never gave her any satisfaction and could hardly pay the fees to begin with. Still, everyone started at the bottom so she endured it.

After a year of that, she had been 'promoted' to what could be called the middle-class of society. From that time on, she was asked to attend to parties for officials and richer men, which suited her just fine. At least here, she could use her skills to ensnare a few men who quickly became her sponsors. She had a knack for seducing the hopeless cases and make them want her so badly that they were willing to buy her everything she wanted, be it clothes or jewelry. As a hostess, she learned a lot of things normal people didn't, she heard and saw things that other people might find interesting so she quickly realized the potential of that knowledge. That's how she got involved in the information exchange business.

It didn't take long for someone to approach her with the request of forwarding such delicate information about some of her clients. That's how she become a sleeper agent for Kumogakure. She had to admit that if that man who approached her hadn't been that handsome and charming she might have refused but she didn't. The pay was good and he more than gladly gave her the satisfaction that customers couldn't give her. She had been an agent for five years now and she had made a lot of money thanks to her side business, which had been the goal all along.

Last night however she had come upon a major piece of information. The client in question was a noble who had just returned from Konoha. The client was a regular and while she couldn't stand him personally, he always paid well and so she indulged him. Last night however the man was fired up and was drinking for more than usual judging by the empty sake bottles that she could see when she entered his room. Like she did every time she slowly undid her robes and moved behind him to give him a sensual massage while listening to him ramble on about everything. When he started telling her about his near-death experience at the hand of a shinobi during the finals of the Chuunin exams, her interests spiked and she urged him to tell her all about it. Her contact would pay handsomely for this information, that she knew. When her client left she had a wealth of information about what had happened at Konoha and she immediately called for her handler. They had a special way of communicating so she was sure he would show up the very next day.

"Ah Yuriko-chan, always a pleasure seeing you." A voice said suddenly.

"Kenji-san, do you always have to try and scare me like that?" Yuriko asked glaring at the man.

"Have to? No. But I always enjoy seeing you with goose bumps." Kenji smiled pulling the woman close and drawing her lips to his. A sensual and passionate kiss followed that made Yuriko weak in the knees. That man had power over her like no man ever had before. She would do anything for him and he knew it. Yet, he never abused that power and that was what Yuriko liked about Kenji. Oh, she was sure he had several others like her but she didn't mind at all. When the kiss ended she undid his robes and let her kimono fall to the ground. No reason why she couldn't enjoy herself a bit before getting back to work. When their lovemaking ended, Kenji asked her why she called him.

"What if I called you here just for a bit of fun?" Yuriko teased.

"You and I both know that's not why you called me." Kenji laughed. "Though I must say, I'm always game for a bit of fun. You're exquisite, my dear."

"Thank you my love." Yuriko said pressing her naked body against his, enjoying his reaction to the feel of her breasts against his chest. "We can play some more if you want?"

"While that would be wonderful, I think it's best we get to the point." Kenji sighed. She always did this and while he liked her well enough, to him this was pure work related, no feelings were involved in this 'relationship'. At least not from his side, he knew she had feelings for him but as long as she kept things professional he didn't call her upon it.

Yuriko sighed somewhat hurt and disappointed but nodded nonetheless. She quickly told him about what she had learned the night before and Kenji listened with every fiber in his being. This was major news and while he would first check it out, he knew that men always exaggerated when it came to impressing women, this was something that the Raikage would be most interested to know. He decided that this information was worth a reward so he kissed Yuriko and gave her what she wanted the most. Release and the loving touch of a man that respected her for who she was and what she did. She had done a great job over the years so every once in a while he gave in to her requests and demands.

When he had sufficiently rewarded Yuriko he set out for Konoha. He needed to confirm these rumors and stories and while getting into Konoha would be difficult, especially right after an invasion, he was one of the best infiltrators in Kumo so he was pretty sure he would manage. He wouldn't stay long, only to verify the claims made by that noble and maybe some more but after that he would rush back to Kumo and inform the Raikage about all of this.


	25. Chapter 25

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Life starts again

Two days had passed since Naruko had awakened in the hospital room and now she was finally feeling one hundred percent again. She had been ordered by Tsunade to take it easy and was forbidden to do any training what so ever. Yesterday she had tried to convince Haku that she felt good enough to do some training but Haku had threatened to take away her kissing privileges for a week if she did any training for the rest of the week. Naruko quickly crawled back into the couch not wanted to receive such an unfair punishment much to the amusement of Yuugao and Anko.

Now however those two days had passed and Naruko was itching to go outside and do something. Sitting still was something she hated with a passion. There had been some good moments too though as like when Haku jumped into the shower with her. That had been a bold move by the girl but Haku argued that she didn't want to waste more time with moving slowly. They still hadn't made love but they were close and Naruko couldn't wait for the day that they finally did.

"Naru-chan, are you ready?" Haku asked from the living room.

"Yep, I'll be right out." Naruko yelled back while putting her hair in a ponytail. "I wonder how the village is doing?" She said once she joined Haku in the living room.

"Anko-neechan said that the damages in the village weren't that great." Haku remarked while dragging Naruko outside. "She said that most Genin teams were assigned to clear out the debris and contractors were already busy repairing the houses."

"Wow, they move fast." Naruko said impressed. "How about we go say hello to Ayame-neechan?"

"Okay." Haku smiled and held her girlfriend's hand while they walked towards the Ichiraku Ramen stand. On their way there they noticed that several shinobi that they hardly knew or had spoken too before, greeted them amicably. Several academy students looked in awe at them and one little girl even approached them for an autograph.

"What's going on?" Naruko said bewildered.

"I don't know but it's weird." Haku agreed. "I've been getting those looks for the past two days now. I meant to ask about it but totally forgot. We should ask Yuugao-neechan later tonight."

When they reached Ichiraku's they quickly sat down and ordered a bowl of ramen for the both of them. Ayame was very happy to see the two of them and told how frightened she had been during the evacuation. She and her father feared for their stand but luckily it had survived the invasion without damage.

"I don't know how you girls do it." Ayame said finally. "I was scared to death when the alarms went off. Everywhere people were fighting, I saw people hurt and bleeding on the street and there was nothing we could do to help."

"It's normal to be scared Ayame-neechan." Naruko said gently. "I mean, I was scared too but we've been trained to suppress our fear and do what is necessary. Luckily, we were aware of the attack in advance and were prepared for them. I don't want to think what could have happened otherwise."

"People have been talking about the two of you." Ayame said suddenly. "This morning a few shinobi were talking about how strong the two of you were and how you defeated many enemies during the attack. They were very impressed with you two."

"Really?" Naruko said surprised. "Maybe that's why people were greeting and smiling at us?"

"No doubt." Haku agreed.

The rest of the time at Ichiraku's was spent by talking to Ayame and her father who had arrived later as he was doing some shopping before. He too was glad to see the two girls in good health and he thanked both of them for fighting so bravely against the invaders. Naruko and Haku blushed and said it was only normal as they were kunoichi of the Leaf. They would have stayed a bit longer but they still wanted to visit some people so they left with a promise to pass by later that week.

It didn't take them very long to reach their next destination. It was a simple building that luckily escaped from being damaged by the invasion, the building had several apartments for shinobi. It was here that they would find the person they were looking for. Having looked up the address before they left they went straight for the right apartment and knocked several times. Both girls heard someone yelling that they would be right there. When the door opened a surprised Lee greeted them.

"Naruko-san, Haku-san, how great to see you." Lee said enthusiastic while letting them in.

"How have you been Lee?" Naruko asked worried when she saw Lee move with his crutch.

"I'm getting better." Lee sighed softly. "The doctor says that my leg will heal but the problem is that several bone fragments are lodged near my spinal cord. According to the doctor it's impossible to remove them."

"Surely there's someone who can help you?" Haku said sadly. She liked Lee, sure he was a bit strange and the whole youthful thing could be damn annoying but Lee was a good guy that would never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.

"Gai-sensei and I visited several doctors and they all said the same thing." Lee answered. "I'm afraid my shinobi career is over."

"Don't give up yet." Naruko shouted. "What about Tsunade-Baa-chan? She's the best medic-nin ever so I'm sure she can help you."

"Tsunade-sama?" Lee asked, a spark of hope in eyes. "Do you think she would want to help me?"

"Don't you worry." Haku smiled at the young shinobi in front of her. "We're headed to the hospital anyway. We'll ask her to come visit you so she can take a look at your injuries."

"If anyone can help you it's Tsunade-Baa-chan." Naruko nodded. "We'll drag her over here if we need to. You better be ready to start training again Lee because otherwise Haku-chan and I will surpass you."

"Thank you Naruko-san, Haku-san." Lee said with tears in his eyes. "I have been most un-youthful. I was wallowing in self-pity and depression. Thanks to both of you, I now see how wrong I was. I shall do a thousand kicks and punches as soon as I get better."

"That's the spirit." Naruko laughed. While he still wasn't back at being the old Lee, they could see that his spirit had been lifted and that he regained a bit of hope. Both girls truly hoped that Tsunade would be able to help their friend. They stayed for about an hour, where they told Lee all about their part in the invasion and what had happened. Needless to say Lee was very impressed and promised to train very hard so he could catch up to them.

"That's okay Lee, just wait until Tsunade-sama gives you the okay to start training again." Haku smiled.

"Yeah otherwise she'll just put you on probation and tie you to the bed." Naruko joked but somehow she felt like that would be the kind of thing that the woman would do to a patient like Lee.

When they said their goodbye's Lee was feeling much better and it showed as he gave them a 'nice guy' pose. That alone was sign that the old Lee was surfacing again and the girls couldn't be happier. Sure he was loud and had no fashion sense whatsoever but he was their friend and they wanted to see him happy.

* * *

Next stop was the hospital where Sakura was still being held under observation. She had awoken the day after the invasion but would have to spend at least one more week in the hospital. Her wounds had been serious enough to warrant such a lengthy stay according to Tsunade and while Naruko still didn't like the pink-haired girl very much, both she and Haku decided to pay her a visit. When they reached her room they didn't expect to hear two voices argue. Wondering what was going on they entered the room only to find Ino glaring at a very smug looking Sakura.

"Wipe that grin of your face, forehead-girl." Ino snapped.

"Bite me Ino-Buta." Sakura grinned. "You're just mad that you weren't the one to save Sasuke-kun's life."

The shouting continued until Shizune suddenly burst in the room, completely ignoring Haku and Naruko. She grabbed Ino by the collar and opened the window before tossing Ino out. Luckily they were on the first floor but Ino was so shocked that she still landed on her butt. Sakura was shocked as well and when Shizune turned towards her, she hid herself by using her covers.

"I told you yesterday that shouting and arguing inside the hospital is forbidden."Shizune glared at Sakura. "Don't make me repeat myself again or I'll put you with the old men on the second floor. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes Shizune-san." Sakura gulped fearful. She definitely didn't want to be put with all those all men. Perverts, the lot of them according to some of the other nurses.

"Good." Shizune smiled and headed back to the hallway. When she passed Haku and Naruko she greeted them with a smile and thanked them for coming to see Sakura.

"Way to go, Sakura." Naruko snorted. "That's the first time I've seen Shizune mad."

"I didn't think Shizune-san could be angry." Haku added smiling. All the time they had spent with Tsunade and Shizune, they had never heard or seen Shizune raise her voice. This was quite a first for both girls.

"Argh, what are you doing here?" Sakura groaned. "And it's not my fault, Ino-buta provoked me."

"Sure she did." Naruko snorted once more. "And we're here to see how you were doing but it seems that you're just fine."

"Oh t-thank you." Sakura said shocked. "Didn't expect you to come visit, that's all."

"Don't expect it to happen that often." Naruko shrugged.

"So, how are you feeling?" Haku asked the pink-haired girl.

"As good as can be I guess." Sakura admitted. "The doctor says I was luckily that Tsunade-sama was there to heal some of my worst wounds. He said I lost a lot of blood and that I would need to take it easy for several days. I should be out by next week."

"That's something at least." Haku smiled gently.

"Ino said that you defeated that Suna shinobi that Sasuke-kun was fighting." Sakura mentioned to Naruko. "I don't remember much of what happened during the fight. Did Sasuke get hurt or anything? Ino said Shikamaru and Shino carried us to safety."

"No, I knocked out Sasuke because he was refusing to listen to reason." Naruko told her. "He was only going to get himself killed if he stayed."

"You knocked out Sasuke-kun?" Sakura almost yelled before remembering Shizune's threat. "Why did you do that for? Sasuke-kun is the strongest Genin out of all of us."

"True, he might be the strongest Genin." Naruko grinned. "But Haku-chan and I are Chuunin and thus we're his ranking officers. He refused to obey orders and because of that another shinobi of the Leaf got hurt. He's lucky all I did was knock him out."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked somewhat worried.

"Disobedience during a mission, and make no mistake, this was a mission and perhaps this might even be considered borderline insubordination, is punishable under Konoha Law." Naruko said. "You do know the punishment for that do you?"

"Y-yes, up to three months probation depending on the severity of situation." Sakura said softly. She knew everything about the Shinobi rules and this was one of them. "If result in a death, the shinobi involved might face one year jail time."

"That's right." Naruko nodded. "Don't get your panties in a twist though, that only happens when the ranking officer demands it."

"And since Naru-chan here is the ranking officer, she didn't file a complaint." Haku added. "Sasuke-san will not face any punishment this time."

"Thank you." Sakura said relieved.

"You better tell him to be careful." Naruko warned her. "Next time he disobeys an order, that person might not be so kind. Not everyone is impressed with him just because he's an Uchiha."

Sensing that the conversation was about to shift to the defense of Sasuke, Haku told Naruko that they better get a move on as they still had people to visit. Naruko understood what Haku was trying to do and she was very grateful. They both told Sakura to get better soon and that she had managed to make some progress as a kunoichi but still had a long way to go. That made Sakura yell out that she would get better and become a real kunoichi. Her yelling however caused Shizune to storm into her room and dragged her to the second floor just like she had promised. Naruko snickered at seeing Sakura's terrified face when she realized what had happened.

"You did that on purpose." Haku accused her lover.

"Who? Me?" Naruko said innocently. In truth she didn't do it on purpose but that didn't make it any less funny.

Still grinning at Sakura's fate, Naruko and Haku went straight to Tsunade's office to tell her about Lee. Tsunade was very busy but she promised that she would visit Lee first thing tomorrow before she came to the hospital. She would have gone immediately but she first needed to review his file, otherwise she would go in blind and lose precious time. Naruko and Haku thanked her for her help and stayed a bit longer, just to keep her company.

* * *

When they left the hospital they encountered Iruka and his class, who were on their way to the Academy after some outdoor training session. Again many of the kids stared at the two girls and both Haku and Naruko were slightly unnerved by all the attention they received. Iruka noticed this and ordered his students to get going or else there would be some special test. The kids al hurried to the classroom as none of them wanted to take another of Iruka's tests.

"Sorry about that." Iruka smiled. "It's just that the two of you have been a hot topic ever since the attack. You know how kids are when they meet with their heroes."

"Heroes? Us?" Naruko asked surprised. "Geez Iruka-sensei, I know we participated in the counter-attack but it wasn't all that special."

"There were plenty of others who contributed to the defense of Konoha as well." Haku agreed with Naruko.

"While that may be the case, you two were some of the youngest kunoichi to have an active part in the counter-attack." Iruka disagreed. "You two were at the front lines while the others were unaware of anything that happened until the last moment. Add in the fact that you " here he pointed to Naruko "defeated a giant monster of sand with a huge Raiton attack. And you "now pointing at Haku "used Hyouton Jutsu to save the Hokage from certain death. Well, you can imagine how those kids' imagination goes wild. They can relate to you because unlike most shinobi, the two of you are still young and the age gap isn't all that big."

"Urgh, next thing we know we're going to have a fanclub or something like that." Naruko said annoyed to which Iruka only laughed harder. "Don't tell me there's already one of those."

"Okay, I won't but I would be lying." Iruka smiled deviously. "Hey, it's not that bad. The two of you make a fine example for the girls. Lord knows there are too many fangirls around. Seeing the two of you might show them the error of their ways. Hey, maybe the two of you could give a class to the girls. What do you say?"

"We'd love to." Haku said before Naruko could refuse.

"Great, I'll let you know the details once I work them out." Iruka happily smiled before he left for the academy.

"Haku-chan, are you crazy?" Naruko rounded on Haku. "Why did you agree to that?"

"Oh come on Naru-chan, it could be fun." Haku smiled. "Besides, it could mean that more girls take their training seriously and we avoid more future Sakura's and Ino's. They give kunoichi a bad name and it might save lives."

"I don't know…." Naruko hesitated.

"Please Naru-chan, for me?" Haku pleaded. "I'll make it up to you."

"Oh fine but you owe me one." Naruko sighed. "Big time."

"Deal." Haku grinned and kissed her girlfriend.

* * *

They only had one more stop that afternoon and so they set out. It didn't take them very long to reach their destination and soon they could hear the whispering of the shinobi that were gathered in that part of town. It was here that all the Suna-nin who had surrendered were housed for the time being. Most of them were ordered to help with the reconstruction by their superiors and while there was still some tension between the two villages, it seemed like things were actually working out.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Naru-chan?" Haku asked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be okay." Naruko reassured her girlfriend. "Besides, I feel like this is important." She then knocked on the door. A muffled answer could be heard from inside before the door opened. A young shinobi with face-paint on gulped at seeing who had just knocked on his door.

"Y-You?" Kankuro said with a hint of fear in his voice. "What do you want?"

"You're Kankuro right?" Naruko smiled. "I'm here to speak to Gaara. Is he here?"

"H-he's here b-but I don't know if he wants to see you." Kankuro nodded not believing his ears. So far nobody had ever come to see Gaara out of their own free will.

"That's alright, we won't take long." Naruko insisted.

Kankuro sighed and nodded before moving aside so the girls could enter. Kankuro guided them to the living room where his sister was reading some kind of scroll. When she looked up to see who had arrived, she dropped her scroll in shock.

"You're the girl who defeated Gaara." Temari remarked. "What are you doing here? I won't let you hurt Gaara any further."

"Geez, calm down will you." Naruko said quickly. "We're not here to hurt anyone. I just wanted to talk to Gaara. I have no intention to fight him. Haku-chan here threatened to take away my kissing privileges if I do any training or fighting this week."

"Kissing privileges?" Temari asked curious. "Are you two together or something?"

"Naruko-chan and I have been a couple for several months now." Haku nodded smiling. "It's the only way I could think of to keep her in line."

Temari nodded while Kankuro just stared at the two girls with a perverted look in his eyes. His sister quickly noticed and hit him upon the head with her giant fan, knocking him out. Temari didn't like perverts any better than the next girl so she didn't feel bad about hitting her brother. She was a bit surprised to hear the two girls speak so openly about their relationship but in the end it was their business who they told.

"Sorry about him." Temari apologized. "He's just a pervert. Feel free to do some damage."

"Not that it's not inviting but I'll pass." Naruko smiled. "Is Gaara here?"

"Oh sure, he's in his room." Temari nodded. "I'll go get him, wait right here."

Gaara had been very quiet for the past two days. That was quite understandable as he had a lot to think about. First of all, he came to realize that there were people out there, that could inflict injuries onto him. That had been a surprise as no one had ever done so before. But in Konoha there had been three people that managed to hurt him during a fight. First was that weird kid with the giant eyebrows and the green monstrosity he called clothes. He had never seen someone that could out-move his sand and yet this guy had succeeded in doing just that. Then there was that Uchiha guy who had managed to pierce through his shield with a Raiton jutsu and that was actually the first time someone had made him bleed. That had been different. But the worst was the last person he fought.

He had encountered her when he tried to kill the Taijutsu fighter in the hospital. Even then she seemed different from all the rest. When they had fought in the forest however, he truly understood just how different she was. No matter what the threw at her, she either retaliated in full force or just went beyond the impossible. He had even unleashed his full Bijuu form and even that wasn't enough to defeat her. He was told her name was Uzumaki Naruko. He would remember that name for the rest of his life. She was the first person to truly defeat him.

After the fight that white-haired man explained that Uzumaki was just about the only one to understand what he had been through. He didn't think that was possible but something about the man seemed to show him he was speaking the truth. He didn't got the chance to ask what he meant by that as his siblings then appeared.

Siblings. He had never considered them that before. Until a few days ago they were just his teammates, two burdens he needed to deal with. He knew they were his brother and sister but he never once called them that. To him, they were just the same as all the rest. They looked at him in fear and revulsion. Perhaps he couldn't really blame them as he did some pretty gruesome stuff when his bloodlust arose. Now however, he had promised himself to work on his relationship with them. Now that their father was gone, perhaps things would change. It would take time of course. One does not rebuild relationships that have been destroyed years ago in a blink of an eye. No, it would take time and effort from both sides to make things work between them.

Gaara would have to learn to be compassionate and patient with both of them. His brother especially could get on his nerves with his complaining and rambling all the time. Not to mention when he stole Temari's make-up and she found out. Maybe he should try and find the funny part in seeing his brother getting his ass kicked by their sister.

Temari and Kankuro would have to learn to shed their fear for him. Not an easy thing to do when you can kill without lifting a finger. He knew how people regarded him as a killer and a monster. He even considered himself one but maybe he should try and reduce the number of killings a bit.

"Gaara?" He heard his sister voice on the other side of the door. "There's someone who wants to speak to you. Can I come in?"

Gaara sighed and wondered who had come to disturb his thinking. He figured that it would be someone of Konoha to talk to him about Suna or something like. The day before he and the rest of his team had been questioned about the invasion. They weren't being accused of anything but they were still interrogated. He walked to the door and opened it.

"Who is it?" He asked his sister.

"They're waiting in the living room." Temari smiled a bit. "Come on, she seems pretty anxious to talk to you."

"She?" Gaara wondered but closely followed Temari. When he entered the living room he noticed Kankuro stare at their guest with a goofy smile on his face. He was also rubbing his head in a way people did when they hurt themselves. "Uzumaki?" he said when he recognized the blonde.

"Hello Gaara, I'm glad to see you're okay." Naruko said nodding. "This is Haku, she's my best friend and girlfriend."

"I remember you from the day in the hospital." Gaara said at Haku. "You used ice to restrain me."

"That would be me." Haku smiled. "I'm glad to meet you again in better circumstances."

"How about I get us some drinks." Temari said. "Kankuro, come with me."

"What? Why?" Kankuro complained not wanting to leave the two girl out of his sight. He stopped complaining when Temari glared at him, already grabbing her fan to force the issue. "Okay, no need to get violent."

"You have wonderful siblings, Gaara-san." Haku said gently.

"I guess." Gaara said. "Why did you come here?"

"We came to see how you were doing." Naruko admitted. "I overpowered my last attack a bit so I feared that you got hurt. I'm glad to see you're okay."

"My wounds were superficial and that big breasted woman treated my wounds." Gaara answered.

Normally Haku and Naruko would have reacted to the 'big breasted' comment but both of them could see that Gaara hadn't meant to say something perverted. He only used the term to describe her as he probably didn't know who she was. In a way it was an innocent comment from a boy who obviously didn't know any better so they let it slide.

"Tsunade-sama is one of the Sannin and she's the best medic-nin in the world." Haku explained. "She's a great person."

"How did you do it?" Gaara suddenly asked Naruko.

"Do what?" Naruko asked not really knowing what he was talking about.

"How did you beat me?" Gaara asked again. "Nobody has ever defeated me before but yet you did. How did you get so strong?"

"Oh, well I guess there are several answers to that." Naruko shrugged. "Part of it is that I train very hard with Haku-chan here and our sisters. They have taught us a lot and we got stronger with them guiding us. But the most important things is that I couldn't afford to lose."

"I don't understand." Gaara said.

"You were a danger to my village and to the people I love." Naruko explained. "In Konoha we believe that a person can achieve anything when they are fighting for those they love. It enables them to fight and win even when they are hurt and alone, it gives them strength and courage to face even the worst situations. We call this the 'Will of Fire'."

"The will of fire?" Gaara repeated.

"That's right." Haku nodded. "I've only been a part of Konoha for several months now and until now I have never seen or heard anything like it. I've seen a lot but I have never seen anything like the 'Will of Fire.' I truly believe that it's this that makes Konoha the strongest village in the elemental countries."

"Suna does not have anything like that." Gaara said more to himself than to the two girls in front of him. "Maybe I can use this 'Will of Fire' as well?"

"Sure, you only have to find the one thing you care the most about and fight to keep that person safe." Naruko smiled. "Then you'll become truly strong."

"Someone you care about?" Gaara whispered. "How does one find that person?"

"Just start out by making friends and you'll that person someday." Haku smiled.

"I don't have any friends." Gaara sighed. "Everyone fears me."

"Well you have two friends now if you want." Naruko said putting her hand out making Gaara look at her with wide eyes. He slowly brought up his arm and, like he was afraid her hand would burn him, he grabbed her hand and shook it slightly.

"F-Friends?" Gaara said, hope clearly hearable in his voice.

"Friends." Naruko smiled brightly. When she let go of his hand, Haku repeated the process, confirming that she too wanted to be friend with him.

Now that the ice was broken, Temari and Kankuro returned to the living room. They had been watching from the other room and Temari was crying happy tears when she saw Gaara showing some human emotions for the first time in years, if not ever. She would forever be grateful to the two kunoichi for doing what she was unable to do. Bringing back her brother from the hell that was his loneliness. While she still hated her father and Orochimaru for tricking them into waging war against Konoha, it had enabled Gaara to come out of his shell and regain control of his emotions. That was all she cared about and she had no doubt that from now on she would have her little brother back. The future looked bright for once.


	26. Chapter 26

I don't own anything.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Teaching a class

Matsumoto Yoshida, newly promoted Tokubetsu Jounin from Iwa was nervous. He had been given the order to infiltrate Konoha and find out the latest rumors about the invasion that had happened a week ago. The journey from Iwa to Konoha wasn't all that bad and he had made good progress. The closer he got to Konoha however the more his nerves started coming up. One does not infiltrate a shinobi village that easily and definitely not after an invasion. If he got caught it would be a one way ticket to interrogation and, if he survived that, to jail. Once more he wondered why he had forwarded this information in the first place.

Just out of Konoha he changed into a civilian outfit and disposed of everything that might give him away. Checking the fake entry papers he had bought on the black market, something which had cost him a lot of money, he set out. It didn't take him long to reach the village hidden in the leaves and while he had heard about the village before, this was the first time he actually saw it. The great walls that surrounded the village were impressive but the natural cliffs and mountains that protected Iwa seemed much stronger in his opinion.

Seeing that there was only one road leading to the entrance of the village, he joined several others that were travelling towards the gate. Most of them were merchants or businessmen, all looking to sell their goods at the right prize. Yoshida groaned in frustration as he saw the huge line of people in front of the gate. Apparently, security was still high and every visitor got checked.

"Great, this is going to cost me money." The person in front of him said. "It's going to take ages to get inside."

"Do you know what happened?" Yoshida asked the man.

"Not a clue but it must have been big." The man shrugged. "I travel to Konoha every two weeks and have been doing so for years. This is the first time I've seen anything like this. Usually they ask our papers and the purpose of our visit but that's it. Now, it seems as they are doing body-checks and everything."

Yoshida nodded at the man, realizing that he wouldn't learn anything of importance from him. He was glad though that he had the foresight to dispose of his equipment. He would have been caught red-handed.

It took him almost an hour before he reached the gate. The shinobi guarding it didn't seem to mind the constant protesting and complaining of the visitors and calmly checked everything. When he was asked for his papers, Yoshida nervously gave them to the man hoping that they wouldn't notice that they were fake. When the shinobi nodded, Yoshida relaxed and entered the village, trying to act as normal as possible. He thanked his lucky stars that the fake papers were well made. Once he was inside he relaxed a bit more and decided to first have a look around before starting his investigation.

Konoha seemed to be a beautiful village with lot of greenery. That was something that was pretty rare in Iwa as the ground there wasn't that fertile to allow trees and such to grow so easily. That didn't mean they didn't have any but not as much as in Konoha. Yoshida figured that the name of 'tree-huggers' that Iwa-nin used to describe Konoha-nin might come from this fact.

He followed some directions to get to the center of the village and quickly realized that Konoha was a lot bigger than he had anticipated. He kept his eye open for any sustained damage from the attack but so far he had seen nothing that indicated that there had even been an attack. Not only that but the people seemed happy and unafraid. Kids were running around playing in the streets, elderly people were sitting in the sun talking and playing Shogi or Go, even some shinobi he had seen seemed very comfortable and relaxed.

Deciding he could use something to eat, he went in search of small restaurant where not to many people would come. After walking around a bit, he found this small food stand called Ichiraku Ramen and noticed the gorgeous girl behind the counter. He shouldn't but he figured he might as well enjoy the time he spend here so he sat down and ordered a bowl of Miso-Ramen. After making some small-talk with the girl, who either knew not to talk about anything shinobi related or simply didn't know anything, he quietly ate his lunch. It was some of the best ramen he had ever eaten and he told her so, earning a beautiful smile from the girl. He was about to leave when two girls entered the stand. Their outfit and the way they carried themselves screamed shinobi to him and he ordered an extra drink just so he could stay a bit longer. He listened carefully to the conversation.

"Hey Ayame-neechan." The blond girl smiled.

"Hello Naruko-chan, Haku-chan how are you two doing?" Ayame smiled at them.

"We're fine thanks." Naruko said quickly. "But we're starving, I'll have three Miso-Ramen. What about you Haku-chan?"

"I'll start with one, thank you." Haku giggled at her girlfriend.

"Coming right up." Ayame said. "So how have you two been?"

"We're okay." Naruko said before she glared at Haku. "This afternoon though isn't going to be fine, however."

"Oh? Why's that?" Ayame said interested.

"Naru-chan is a bit mad at me for agreeing to Iruka-sensei's request." Haku smiled and tried to grab Naruko's tongue with her hand as Naruko stuck it out at her. "Iruka-sensei asked us to come talk to the Academy students about what it is like to be a kunoichi."

"Ah I see." Ayame laughed. "What's so bad about that?"

"I don't like little brats." Naruko said with a sigh. "It's not like they are going to listen to us. I mean, they had some kunoichi talk to us when I was in the academy and you know how many fangirls there were in my class. Did they listen? No, they preferred ogling Sasuke and pretending he was their knight in shining armor."

"Well, maybe you can do better than they did." Ayame said trying to encourage Naruko. "Here you go, enjoy." She then placed the ramen on the counter and both girls thanked her and started eating.

Yoshida left once they started knowing that it would be suspicious to stay any longer. He hadn't learned anything about the invasion but he did learn two names of the kunoichi. They had to be talented to be asked to talk to the students so he figured that at least he had gotten some information that might be valuable in some way.

He left the vicinity in search for other information about what had happened to Konoha. So far he had noticed a few shinobi jumping throughout the city's rooftops but other than that nothing much. He sighed realizing that he would have to extend his stay a bit longer than he actually wanted. There was no other way however as his leader would want to know as much as possible and returning without any real information would earn him a one way ticket to some jail time.

Naruko and Haku stayed a bit longer at Ichiraku's seeing that they had time before they had to go to the academy to instruct the children on what it mean to be a shinobi. They had decided that they wouldn't mince the truth and while it might scare a few of them away, the rest would hopefully realize the cold truths about the shinobi world.

* * *

Iruka was actually looking forward to see how Naruko and Haku would handle things. This class wasn't any better or worse than the previous ones he had taught he figured. In just about every class you had the ace, the one most likely to become the rookie of year, and then you had the other side of the spectrum, namely the dead last. Between those two you had scores of talented and dedicated kids who wanted to succeed in life. But just like any other class there were those who were there for the fame or the excitement. Iruka knew that those were the first to either quit or get themselves killed.

Then there were the fangirls and those were the ones he actually didn't like. The girls who chased the most handsome boy of their class, trying to get his attention and his acknowledgement. Last year had been the worst class in that aspect; hardly difficult to understand as the heartthrob of the class was none other than the last Uchiha. It didn't help that he was attractive and talented and so he had hordes of fangirls chasing him. This was worrying as those girls neglected their training in favor of trying to follow or seduce him.

His current class had one of those as well. Hyuuga Kenji was a prodigy in his own way; he was talented in most of the shinobi art and especially in Taijutsu. Iruka figured he wasn't that unpleasant to look at as girls swooned and sighed whenever they saw him. Not that he actually agreed, he liked women thank you very much. But the fact remained that girls liked him and sought his attention. Kenji was part of the main branch but not in line for any higher position, so that meant that he was taught from young age giving him an advantage in the academy.

Kenji himself was an okay guy. He wasn't stuck up or arrogant but neither was he compassionate or caring about those around him. He did his thing and that was it. He also knew that he was a shoe in for the 'Rookie of the Year' title but he never flaunted it in front of those less talented than him. He knew he was popular amongst the girls but paid little or no attention to them as he was mature enough to understand that these girls were not prime dating material.

Iruka looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for lunch. He decided to give the kids a bit of extra free time and ended the lesson right there. The kids cheered and ran out of the classroom, not looking back lest their teacher changed his mind. Iruka smiled and sat down and waited for Naruko and Haku to arrive. They had agreed to meet during lunch so they could discuss what they had planned.

"Geez Iruka-sensei, seems you're still as popular as before." Naruko said from the window. "Were you giving one of your boring speeches?"

"Very funny Naruko, if I recall correctly you were just the same." Iruka smiled at the little jibe. "Come on in, you two."

"Thank you Iruka-san." Haku smiled.

"So what have you two planned for the lesson?" Iruka asked curiously.

"We decided not to simply address the girls but the whole class." Naruko started. "Also we asked the help of several others."

"Oh and who might that be?" Iruka frowned.

"You'll see." Haku said mysteriously.

When lunch period was over, the class slowly filled with students and like any other class it took a while until everyone was settled. Iruka, having dealt with this for many years, just sat there until class was supposed to begin. He then clapped his hands and like magic they all quieted down and started paying attention to him.

"Alright class, today I have a very special lesson for all of you." Iruka smiled. "I have asked two kunoichi to came speak to you about their time as a shinobi. These two kunoichi are very strong and they were the ones to discover the plot to destroy Konoha in the invasion a week ago. I want you all to listen very carefully to what they have to say, because someday their advice could save your life." He then turned to the door. "You can come in." All the kids turned to the door and watched as two girls walked into the classroom.

"Hello everyone, my name is Uzumaki Naruko and I'm a Chuunin." Naruko said introducing herself.

"My name is Haku and I too, am a Chuunin." Haku followed. "It's nice to meet you all."

"I will now give the word to Haku-san and Naruko-san." Iruka said. "Please treat them with respect and listen very carefully to what they have to say."

"Thank you Iruka-sensei." Naruko smiled at her former teacher. "First off, I want to assure you all that we won't give you a boring speech like Iruka-sensei does all the time." Here the class erupted into laughter as Iruka glared at Naruko. "Okay, that being said, I should warn you that everything that Iruka-sensei says is important. It might not seem so right now but trust me when I say that it can save your life one day."

"We thought it would be good if the class were the ones to ask questions and we'll try to answer them if we can." Haku said to Iruka who nodded. "Okay, who has a question?" A lot of kids raised their hands and Haku smiled at a girl who seemed a bit shy. "Yes, what's your name and your question?"

"My name is Namiko." The girl said shyly. "Is it true that you discovered the plans to the invasion of Konoha?"

"Nice to meet you Namiko." Haku smiled. "Yes, it's true that Naruko here saw Mizuki when we were guarding an outpost of Konoha. She alerted our sensei, who followed Mizuki and learned of the attack against Konoha. Does that answer your question?"

Namiko nodded and the class started whispering and talking amongst themselves. It was no wonder as they had all known Mizuki as their teacher so hearing that he was traitor was a bit of a shock.

"There's a first lesson for all of you." Naruko said silencing the class. "The shinobi world is a harsh place. Betrayal and killing is a large part of it and as such you'll have to learn how to live with it. It takes time and a lot of training to do so."

"Have you killed someone?" a boy from the back asked them.

"What's your name?" Naruko said in return.

"Sorry, I'm Tsuyoshi." The boy said blushing a bit.

"That's okay Tsuyoshi." Naruko said. "I have killed several people. My first kill was a bandit who was part of a gang who attacked people. He also raped the girls and women before killing them. It was very hard to end his life even if he was a bad person and the world is better off without him. During missions and the invasion I have killed more shinobi than I dare count."

"So why do you do it then?" Tsuyoshi asked a bit intimidated.

"Because they were a danger to the people and the village I love." Naruko said strongly. "As a shinobi it is my duty to defend everyone living in our village. I fight so that people can be happy and don't have to live in fear. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I think so." Tsuyoshi nodded.

"Any other questions?" Haku asked the class.

"I have one." A young boy said.

"Go ahead." Haku nodded with a smile.

"My name is Hyuuga Kenji and I wanted to know how you got to be so strong." Kenji asked. "A lot of girls here aren't very strong so I wondered how you got to be so strong?"

"That's a good question Kenji-san." Haku said. "The answer is very simple. We train a lot. Naruko and I have a very strict sensei and she makes us do a lot of training. It's not always fun but as a kunoichi, or a shinobi for that matter, it's necessary. If we don't train we don't get stronger and that might get us killed in a mission, or we might not be able to help our teammate when they're in trouble."

"We have a lot of fangirls here." Another boy shouted loudly making several girls glare at him.

"Please don't shout." Naruko said. "My class had some students like that as well. Even boys who just wanted to become shinobi for the fame and glory. Let me tell all of you something very important. Those who do not take their training seriously will get themselves or their future teammates killed."

"But we train at the academy." One of the girls said after raising her hand.

"Yes that's true but do you think you can get strong by just training a few hours a day?" Haku answered. "Do you think that after the academy you won't need any more training?"

"How much do you train?" The same girl asked Naruko.

"While I was in the academy, I trained for several more hours on my own after classes finished." Naruko explained. "I practiced everything I had learned and tried to come up with new exercises to become stronger."

"That much?" another girl asked surprised. "But didn't you have anything else to do? I mean, it sounds that you only trained and practiced, all day long."

"Well, I'm an orphan and didn't have many friends back then so I didn't have a lot to do otherwise." Naruko shrugged. "The point is that you need to keep training every day, or else you won't survive as a shinobi."

"All right, enough questions." Haku said smiling. "Naruko and I asked several more shinobi to show you all what they can do. We need to relocate to training field eight. So everyone follow us."

The large group of students and three Chuunin made their way over to the training field while passing through the village. The academy students enjoyed the attention they received while the Chuunin were busy discussing how things went. Iruka was very impressed with how Naruko and Haku dealt with the situation and thanked them for their hard work.

* * *

On the other side of the village several shinobi had gathered and were awaiting the arrival of the students. Amongst them were Uzuki Yuugao, Hatake Kakashi, the Sandaime Hokage, Jiraiya and Tsunade who had just arrived.

"She got you all as well huh?" Tsunade smirked at those standing there.

"Yeah, hard to say no when she whips out those teary eyes and quivering lip." Yuugao sighed.

"Tell me about it." The Sandaime snorted. "She used to get away with anything when she was little. Even after all these years I'm still unable to resist her."

"Same here." Jiraiya laughed. "It reminds me of how Kushina used to boss Minato around."

"Sensei was putty in her hands when she wanted to." Kakashi agreed with Jiraiya. "He couldn't refuse her anything."

"I remember when she was pregnant and had one weird craving after another, she would sent out Minato in the middle of the night." Jiraiya chuckled. "Poor guy was exhausted most of her pregnancy due to all the running around he did for her."

"They were such a happy couple." Tsunade sighed sadly. "They didn't deserve not seeing their little girl grow up."

"No they didn't but their sacrifice ensured that their girl would grow up and become the young woman she is today." The Sandaime said placing a hand on Tsunade's shoulder in comfort. "They wouldn't want us to dwell on the past any longer."

"Here they come." Kakashi said warning the rest of the gang.

"Alright, everyone sit down so we can introduce these people to you all." Naruko instructed the kids. Strangely enough all of them obeyed without protesting. "Alright, let's start with someone we all know and love. Ji-chan, please step forward." The Sandaime Hokage nodded and stepped forward just in front of the children.

"Hello everyone." He greeted them with a kind smile.

"As you all know this is the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen." Naruko introduced her adoptive grandfather. "He has been Hokage for many years and is considered the God of Shinobi, for he knows every jutsu in the village. This also earned him the nickname 'The Professor'. He was taught by none other than the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage and became Hokage when the Nidaime fell during the war with Kumo. He's famous for being the teacher of the Legendary Sannin who are considered some of Konoha's strongest shinobi ever."

"Thank you Naruko for that kind introduction." The Sandaime chuckled before stepping back.

"Next up is Tsunade-sama of the Sannin." Haku said motioning Tsunade to step forward which she promptly did while smiling at the young crowd whose mouths were hanging open. "Tsunade-sama is the great-granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama and great-grandniece of Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage. She was the student of Sarutobi Hiruzen together with two others. She is widely known to be the best medic-nin in existence and also one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha ever." Haku then whispered to the kids. "She's also one of the favorites to replace the Sandaime and become the Godaime Hokage."

"Dear lord, anything but that." Tsunade said glaring at her sensei making everyone laugh at how uncomfortable the Sandaime suddenly became.

"Following is the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya." Naruko said introducing her godfather. "Jiraiya-sama was a student under the Sandaime together with Tsunade-sama and is considered the strongest of the Sannin. He was also the teacher of the Yondaime Hokage, who as you all know contributed in the winning of the war against Iwa and later on defeated the Kyuubi."

"He's also a pervert." Tsunade grumbled softly so that no student could hear it. Jiraiya heard it though and winked at her.

"Then we have Hatake Kakashi, also known as Copy-ninja Kakashi." Naruko said making Kakashi step forward. "Kakashi-sensei was a student under the Yondaime and is now one of the strongest Jounin in the village. He is now the Jounin sensei of Team 7 who helped out in defeating the enemy during the invasion."

"And last but certainly not least is our big sister and Jounin Sensei, Uzuki Yuugao." Haku said. "Yuugao-Sensei was part of Anbu before she retired to become Naruko-chan's teacher and later on my own sensei. She is one of the best Kenjutsu users in the village."

When all the introduction were done the kids were sitting there looking in awe at the shinobi in front of them. They realized that they were in the presence of legends and they were visible impressed with all of them. Iruka watched on as he had never seen any of them so intrigued and curious before, he had to admit that Naruko and Haku had come up with a great idea to catch the kids' interests.

"Now we'll spilt up in groups and then you'll rotate between each of us." Naruko explained. "You can ask questions to all of us but be polite and respectful. We'll let you know when it is time to switch to someone else." The kids quickly stood and all of them got sorted into small groups so that they all could ask some questions.

At the end of the day, it became clear to Iruka just how much of an impact the meeting had on the kids. When he walked them back to the academy he could hear several kids telling their friends who they thought was cooler and who they wished to become like. Girls were very impressed with Tsunade and Yuugao while the boys favored Kakashi, Jiraiya and the Sandaime. He was sure that by meeting these legends of Konoha, the kids had learned a lot about what it meant to be a shinobi. The future of this particular class seemed very good to say the least.

* * *

Someone else's future didn't look too good though. Touji Mizuki was currently incarcerated in the Konoha holding cells and was cursing his fate. Once he had regained consciousness he realized that his plans for the future had gone to hell, a place where he would soon be as well if his interrogators had any say about it.

His former fiancé had visited him, after pleading his case with the Hokage and she had been granted one visit. Tsubaki begged him to tell them everything they wanted to know and to renounce Orochimaru and beg for forgiveness. He had laughed in her face saying that the only reason he even stayed with her was to reduce the amount of suspicion that was already on him. Tsubaki had soon left after that and he hadn't seen or heard from her again. He didn't care, she was just a front he had needed at the time. If she was so stupid to believe him then it was her own fault.

So far he had been treated fairly well considering the crimes he had committed but he knew it was only a matter of time before they brought out the big guns. For betraying Konoha and attempting to assassinate the clan heirs amongst the academy classes, he would receive some first class attention, meaning Morino Ibiki or Mitarashi Anko. Those two were feared for their ruthlessness and sadistic ways of interrogation. He didn't look forward to that session. Not at all.

"Let me out of here." A man further down the cell block yelled out.

"Pipe down." Another man shouted back. "Some of us are trying to sleep here."

Mizuki sighed at the other prisoners in the cells. They were all Nuke-nin or criminals that had gotten life sentences or were waiting for execution. Most of the Konoha civilians didn't realize this but executions were an often used way to deal with the prisoners. Of course not everyone got sentenced to death but those that were, well they knew they wouldn't walk on this earth much longer. Suddenly, he heard the gate open and while he couldn't see who was walking inside, the others did and they started shouting and whistling meaning that it was a woman who had entered.

"YOU! YOU PUT ME IN HERE." A man shouted loudly. "You'll pay for this, I swear."

"Well, if it isn't my old friend Gato?" Mizuki heard the woman say. He recognized that voice anywhere and knew it to be Mitarashi Anko.

"I'm not your friend, you bitch." The man now known as Gato yelled. "When I get out of here, I'll….."

"Not when, Gato but if." Anko said pleasantly. "Besides, if you leave then your roommate will be unhappy and I wouldn't want to separate such a lovely couple."

"SHUT UP!" Gato roared.

"Sorry I would love to stay and chat but I have work to do." Anko said. "There's a traitor that needs my attention. See you around Gato."

Mizuki heard Gato yell out several profanities towards Anko but he knew she wasn't one to be bothered by them. His heart sank when she stopped in front of his cell and waved at him with that sadistic smile on her face. He was in trouble and he knew it.

"Hello Mizuki, are you ready to talk?" Anko asked him.

"Do whatever you want but I won' tell you anything." Mizuki said bravely.

"We'll see about that." Anko grinned before she instructed the guards to take him to the interrogation room. Anko followed behind them with a small spring in her step and looking very happy. It was enough to make the other prisoners gulp and feel a bit of pity for the guy she would be interrogating.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A trip with the Sandaime

Hatake Kakashi thought himself a reasonable sensei of Team 7. He was kind and supportive to all three of them, listened to their problems, helped them out whenever he could and yet things weren't the way he wanted with his team. It wasn't all bad of course, some things had changed for the better.

Like Tsuyoshi for example. While mediocre in the field, he possessed a sharp mind and capabilities to become great in several other areas. A few months ago, Yuugao had proposed that she asked Anko if she couldn't help the boy find his niche in the 'Interrogation and Torture Squad'. He had been hesitant because he thought Tsuyoshi was too nice for that particular field but now he knew otherwise.

Tsuyoshi would do great he realized and so he had gone to Yuugao and accepted her proposal. Yuugao had smiled and told him that she would speak with Anko later that night. Which she did as Anko came to see him and Tsuyoshi the day afterwards to explain what it meant to work for Ikibi and his squad.

Kakashi knew he had made the right decision when Tsuyoshi eyes went wide and his head started bopping up and down. It seemed that Tsuyoshi had found what he was looking for and Kakashi felt both proud and sad. Proud that he had been able to help his student but sad because the boy would now be under the supervision of someone else. Tsuyoshi however seemed glad to leave but he thanked Kakashi for giving him the opportunity to do what he wanted. Kakashi's heart warmed when Tsuyoshi told him that Kakashi would always be his sensei. That alone had put an almost permanent smile on the man's face.

Then there was Sakura. Without a doubt one of the smartest kunoichi of the moment but so misguided in life. He had known that she was a fangirl but he had underestimated the severity of the situation. The first few months were a disaster as she only cared about looking good for Sasuke and neglected everything else in her training. No matter what he tried he was unable to get rid of her fangirl attitude and he was close to losing hope. Then, once more, Yuugao had come to the rescue. Yuugao forced the girl to see just how far behind she truly was and provided the girl with a set of rivals in Naruko and Haku.

Steadily Sakura had undergone a change and Kakashi was glad to see it. He didn't want Sakura to perish on the battlefield due to lack of training. Now she trained more and harder and had been making some impressive progress. The results showed during the Chuunin exams and the invasion. Almost sacrificing her life to save her teammate showed maturity and Kakashi was very proud of her. Sure, it was Sasuke she had saved but he was willing to believe that she would help out anyone in need. Her rivalry with Haku and Naruko had pushed her and he was sure it would continue to push her in the future.

Lastly, there was Uchiha Sasuke. The genius of the team; it was no exaggeration as Sasuke truly was very talented in the shinobi arts. The Rookie of the Year was not just a title but was a reflection of the student's entire career at the Academy. Sasuke had earned that title by working hard each and every single day.

But while he was talented in the field he lacked several other talents. The boy was a loner, focused on a single thing making it very hard for his teammates to connect with him. He was distant, cold and uncaring towards them and not once had Kakashi seen the three of them truly work together as a team.

He didn't blame Sasuke for being distant as it was hardly unexpected for someone who had been through the things Sasuke had. Having your parents and every relative murdered by the one man you looked up to, would do that to you. Being mentally tortured on top of that was enough to fuck everyone up. But Kakashi had hoped that the three of them would bond during their time together. They didn't however.

Kakashi knew what lacked in his team and that was a sort of rivalry. If Sasuke had a rival, someone who would force him to interact and to compete with, things might have been different. Unfortunately, Sasuke had no rival amongst his teammates. Both Sakura and Tsuyoshi were far behind him and thus he wasn't inclined to interact with them. On the contrary, he considered them not worthy of his time and always went off on his own.

What bothered Kakashi the most was that Sasuke was demanding of power. All he wanted was to get stronger, learn more powerful jutsu, amassing more knowledge in order to beat his brother. Kakashi feared this obsession with Itachi would lead Sasuke astray and had mentioned this multiple times but he was rebuffed each and every time. Kakashi had even shared some of his past to the boy in the hopes that Sasuke would see what could happen if one focuses too much on the past and revenge. It was no use as all Sasuke cared about was killing his brother.

He knew he needed to have a talk with Sasuke. He needed to make him understand that power came with time. That he didn't need to mirror his brother and that he should focus on other things. He already knew how that conversation would go but it still had to be done. Sasuke had broken several rules during the invasion and had almost gotten a fellow Konoha shinobi killed by his actions. Luckily for him, Naruko had decided not to file a report on him this time.

Arriving at the hospital he first went to see the only female member of his team. Just like he was going to have a talk with Sasuke, he wanted Sakura to know that he was proud of her. After having to ask if she had been released since she wasn't in her usual room he found her on another floor.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted her.

"Kakashi-Sensei, I'm so glad you're here." Sakura said happily. "Please, you have to get me out of here." She pleaded. "They won't stop staring at me and it's driving me nuts." She explained pointing at the old men with whom she shared the room.

"Now Sakura, I'm sure they don't mean anything by it." Kakashi laughed. "Besides, you were warned by Shizune-san not to shout in the hospital. Shizune-san takes her hospital duties very seriously by the way."

"I sort of noticed." Sakura glared at the men.

"I'm glad to see you in good health." Kakashi said smiling at his pupil. "I'm very satisfied with the progress you've been showing the past couple of months. If you keep up at it, then I'm sure you'll become a first class kunoichi in no time."

"Thank you Sensei." Sakura said beaming with pride and happiness. "That means a lot to me."

"You earned it, Sakura." Kakashi smiled. "The doctors told me that you may leave in a couple of days so I want you to rest. Once you get the approval, we'll start training and I'll push you harder than ever. Are you up to it?"

"Bring it on." Sakura boasted.

Kakashi smiled and told her to stay on her guard. Sakura shivered when she saw the looks of the men but grinned when two of them flinched from her glare. She hardly noticed Kakashi leaving.

Kakashi felt a little better after visiting Sakura so he decided to go and see Sasuke as well. He hoped that conversation would go just as well. He knew that Sasuke was being kept in a private room in the hospital as he had more than enough money to pay for that privilege. He knocked at the door and walked straight inside. He noticed that Sasuke was reading some scrolls and figured that he might use that as an opening.

"Hello Sasuke, working hard as always I see." Kakashi smiled at his student.

"Hn." Sasuke simple nodded while continue reading. When he noticed that Kakashi wasn't about to leave, he put down the scroll and sighed. "What do you want?"

"Ma, don't be such a sourpuss." Kakashi said. "I came to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine." Sasuke said. "I'm ready to go home but they won't let me."

"I talked to your doctor and he told me that you should be out of here in a few days." Kakashi gave him the news. "He did tell to take it easy the first few days."

"All they want is for me to take it easy." Sasuke grumbled. "Don't they realize that I need to get stronger. I can't just sit around all day."

"Sasuke, you should listen to your doctor." Kakashi warned him. "You don't want to cause any more damage to your body. You were wounded badly during your fight with Gaara. You have plenty of time to get stronger."

"You don't understand." Sasuke said angry but remembering not to shout. "I need to get stronger to kill Itachi. Instead of training I'm stuck in the hospital. I couldn't even beat that Suna-Nin so how could I defeat Itachi. That's why I need to stronger."

"Gaara was a special case. No Genin would have been able to defeat him." Kakashi said to him.

"Naruko did and she was in my class." Sasuke argued. "How the hell did she get so strong anyway? She's even been promoted to Chuunin before everyone else."

"Naruko is different." Kakashi sighed. "She's the one who discovered that Konoha was about to be invaded and she was promoted to Chuunin because of that. Like you, she takes being a shinobi very seriously and she trains hard every day. She has been training seriously for years and still is."

"Then why do you always tell me to take it easy?" Sasuke sneered. "It's like you don't want me to get stronger."

"Nothing of the sort." Kakashi assured him. "I have no doubt that you'll become one of the strongest shinobi ever lived but you need to learn patience. Also, you train for the wrong reasons."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked with anger in his eyes.

"You train to get revenge and the anger you feel in your heart is distracting you." Kakashi tried to explain once more. "I told you before that those reasons will get you nowhere. Naruko, on the other hand, trains to protect her friends and family.

"Because of _him_, I don't have any family left." Sasuke shouted. "Because of _him_, I'm alone."

"Just because you lost one family, doesn't mean that can't make a new one." Kakashi said. "Naruko is an orphan too, but unlike you she never knew her parents. She was alone as well but she refused to give up and found a new family in her Jounin-Sensei and her teammate Haku. You could do the same, you know."

"I don't care about finding a new family." Sasuke told him. "All I care about is killing Itachi and restoring my clan to greatness."

"I see." Kakashi said narrowing his eye at his pupil. "I see you want to be left alone but before I go, let me tell you one more thing." Kakashi then stood tall, no longer acting as Jounin-Sensei but as one of the strongest Shinobi in Konoha. "If in your quest for power, you do something to endanger Konoha and everyone living here, I will not hold back. My student you may be but I will not allow your foolishness to harm anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Sasuke shrugged and turned back to his scroll.

'I'm keeping my eye on you, Sasuke.' Kakashi thought when he exited the room. 'I will not make the same mistake as Sandaime-sama when it comes to dealing with my students.'

* * *

On the other side of town Yoshida, newly promoted Tokubetsu Jounin from Iwa, was learning a bit more about the invasion. He had been in Konoha for almost two days now and he knew the longer he stayed, the higher the chance of getting caught got. He wanted to leave that very night but so far he didn't get that much information. Deciding that he might as well try one last bar, he entered one of the more shady ones in Konoha.

The bar was filled with smoke from cigarettes and reeked of booze. Yoshida didn't like to frequent these kind of places but he knew this was where information could be bought. He made his way over to the bar and sat on a stool that was free. He looked at the crowd, trying to find someone willing to talk. It didn't take him long before he found one. He went straight over to the man.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Yoshida asked the man.

"That depends." The man answered. "Are you looking for information or for a date? The first will cost you and the second will get you killed so choose wisely."

"The first and money is not problem." Yoshida quickly said.

"Good answer." The man said turning to the bartender. "Two beers." When beers arrived, the man turned back to Yoshida. "What do want to know?"

"How did Konoha manage to defeat an invading force made up of two villages?" Yoshida fired away slipping the man a few bills.

"I don't know the details but word on the street is that Konoha discovered the plot a few months before the attack." The man shrugged. "Wasn't all that hard to prepare for an attack if you knew it was coming."

"I see." Yoshida nodded. "Rumor has it that Suna's Jinchuuriki was defeated during the attack. I suppose you don't know anything about that?" Yoshida asked again, slipping a few more bills.

"The answer to that question will cost you a lot more than that." The man snorted. "That's very classified information." The man smiled when Yoshida gave him more than double than before. "That's better. The rumors are correct. The Ichibi's Jinchuuriki was here and that crazy son of a bitch unleashed the beast during the attack."

"You're messing with me." Yoshida hissed at the man. "Surely there would been much more damage to the village if a Bijuu was released."

"Keep your voice down, idiot." The man said. "Do you want to get us killed? I'm not messing with you. The Ichibi never made it to the village thanks to a kunoichi. She defeated him with some crazy ass Raiton Jutsu."

"What else can you tell me about this kunoichi?" Yoshida said slipping the rest of the money to the man.

"Not much, only that she's capable of summoning Toads and that Jiraiya of the Sannin seems very interested in her." The man shrugged taking the money. "Hope that was the last of your questions because you're all out of money."

"Yeah, I'm good." Yoshida said taking in that last bit of information. He thanked the man and rushed out of the bar, eager to get to his hotel and grab his things. He would leave Konoha immediately and head back home. The Tsuchikage would be pleased with the information he had gathered.

Neither men noticed a third person listening in to the conversation. Kenji was an accomplished information gatherer and he knew how to recognize people who were suspicious. By coincidence he had noticed the Iwa-nin asking around for information about the invasion and decided that following him was a good idea. His idea had paid up and he too would leave Konoha by nightfall.

* * *

The next morning Sarutobi Hiruzen, his advisors, Danzo, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the council of Jounin were having their first meeting after the invasion. There had been several meetings before but this was the first in full session. The Sandaime didn't look forward to meeting as each time it was the same thing. He was proven right not even five minutes into the meeting.

"I still say we retaliate against Orochimaru and Suna." Danzo argued. "If we do nothing we'll be seen as weak by the other villages."

"No, I will not condemn people to their deaths once more." The Sandaime answered. "If we go to war once more, there's no saying when it will end."

"Sandaime-sama is right." Nara Shikaku said. "We have just defeated an invading force made up out of two villages. We can be sure that Iwa and Kumo are nervous enough about that. To do anything else will only make things worse."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they already have spies in the village." Jiraiya added. "By now, they'll have a pretty good idea what has happened. We can only hope that they don't jump to conclusions and think we're building up our forces for war."

"Perhaps we should send out an official notice that we have no intention of waging war?" Inuzuka Tsume interjected. "They might not take it seriously but at least we can show that we have no interest in a new war."

"Excellent idea Tsume-san." The Sandaime said approving. "I will get someone on that right away. Like you said they might not believe us but at least it should help reduce their suspicions a bit."

"What about Suna? Surely you won't just 'forgive and forget' that they invaded our village?" Danzo seethed furiously." There must be some kind of repercussion for attacking us."

"Danzo, I would advise you not to test my patience as you'll find I have very little left." The Sandaime warned his rival. "I was going to tell you all of this later on in the meeting but yesterday I received a summon from the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. He requested my presence during the negotiations between him and the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni."

"When is this meeting, Hokage-sama?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked.

"I'm to leave first thing in the morning." Sarutobi answered. "The Daimyo also insisted to meet the two kunoichi who discovered the threat against Konoha, so I'll be taking Uzumaki Naruko and Haku with me as well."

"Daimyo-sama asked to meet Naruko and Haku?" Yuugao asked shocked. "Why?"

"He wants to thank them for singlehandedly saving Konoha." The Sandaime smiled. "He has learned of their accomplishments and wants to express his thanks to them personally. If you would please tell both of them to be ready at sunrise tomorrow?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Yuugao nodded.

"Thank you." The Sandaime said. "Now onto other matters. Tsunade, what's the final death toll from the invasion?"

"Well, it could have been much worse." Tsunade sighed. "I'll start with the civilians. Thanks to the evacuation plans, deaths amongst the villagers has been greatly reduced. Add the fact that the invaders had their hands full fighting the counterattack, we only lost seventy-two villagers. Mostly due to panic and old age. Most of the deceased are elderly people, unable to reach the shelters or by the stress the attack gave them. Other victims were a few children trampled in the rush to get the shelters. We did have several female victims who were raped as well."

"Were they from Suna or Oto?" The Sandaime said furiously.

"One victim claims to be raped by a Suna-Nin while the other indicated Oto-nins." Tsunade answered. "One of them has committed suicide as she was unable to bare the shame and hurt of being raped."

"Such a hideous crime." Kurenai said angry. "What is being done for the other women?"

"They have been treated and are now seeing a help group for sexually abused women." Tsunade explained. "They were hesitant at first but once they got to know the women in the group, they accepted their help and advice."

"Please convey them my gratitude and support." The Sandaime said solemnly. "What about the shinobi side?"

"Again, better than expected." Tsunade said taking a paper in her hands. "During the first wave, we suffered almost no casualties but that was mostly because of the element of surprise. The second wave saw a lot more injured though fatalities were low. The final count is that we lost 17 shinobi and 25 will never resume their duties due to permanent injuries."

"That's still a lot but I guess things could have been worse." Koharu, one of Sarutobi's old teammates said.

"What about the prisoners?" Homura asked. "Ibiki, what have you learned so far?"

"We have been interrogating Oto-nin nonstop." Ibiki said standing up. "So far we've discovered that their village isn't actually a village but more a bunch of secret bases scattered around. We have been able to find out the location of two of those hideouts. Most likely though, those were abandoned straight after the invasion."

"Still would be interesting to go and take a look." Jiraiya interjected.

"I agree." The Sandaime said. "Jiraiya, assemble a team and go check them out. I want a report by the end of the week. Capture everyone still there and gather every bit of information you can find."

"Understood." Jiraiya nodded. "Please continue, Ibiki."

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama." Ibiki nodded respectfully. "It's not surprising that most Oto-nin didn't know the location of any other secret base so we hit a snag on that particular angle. Most of the Oto-nin were street kids and missing-nin who joined Orochimaru for the thrills and money. We found several missing-nin amongst from other villages, once we get out all the information they have, we'll contact their original village in order to exchange them."

"We could use the money from the bounties." Hiashi agreed.

"Excellent work Ibiki." The Sandaime praised. "Are there any more matters that need to be discussed?"

"If I may, I have one last thing to discuss." Danzo said standing up. "What are the result of the autopsy on those Oto-nin that held up that barrier? What have you learned about that strange transformation they underwent?"

"Not a lot actually." Tsunade said. "After they were defeated their bodies transformed back to their original appearance. We did find traces of that damnable seal Orochimaru invented. We believe this seal is a upgrade from the seal he gave Anko all those years ago."

"Could this be used to strengthen our shinobi?" Danzo asked interested.

"How dare you Danzo?" The Sandaime roared. "You would retort to inflicting that seal upon the shinobi of our village? That seal is a perversion of everything that's right in this world. I will not allow you to curse innocent men and women to such a fate."

"Surely you can see the advantages of such a seal?" Danzo said angry. "If we somehow manage to adapt the seal in order to strengthen our shinobi, it would give us an edge in war."

"Sarutobi is right." Homura said to Danzo. "People would get scared of our shinobi if they started transforming into monsters like that. Nobody would hire us anymore and we'd lose our funding. Using that seal is a bad idea."

"I will tell this now Danzo." The Sandaime said. "If you dare use that or any other seal on the shinobi of this village, I will end you myself."

"We'll help you clean up." Tsunade and Jiraiya glared at Danzo.

"You foolish belief will be the downfall of this village but I will obey this once." Danzo said sitting down.

The meeting ended not much later and everyone felt the tension between Danzo and the Sandaime. The two of them had been rivals since their Genin days and while they both respected each other, they also saw things from a totally different perspective. Danzo believed that shinobi were a tool to use in order to protect the village and he didn't see anything wrong with that. It was something that Sarutobi hated the most about the man.

* * *

When Yuugao got home after the meeting she went in search for Haku and Naruko. She found them in their room, huddled together over some scroll and discussing something. Yuugao smiled and figured that those two were in the process of coming up with another crazy ass jutsu.

"Hey you two, what's going on?" Yuugao asked when she entered the room.

"Hi nee-chan, we're just trying to come up with some new ideas." Naruko smiled.

"I figured as much." Yuugao laughed. "I have something tell you both. Tomorrow the two of you will accompany the Sandaime to see the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. They will be meeting with the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni in order to negotiate the new peace terms and the retributions Suna will have to pay for attacking Konoha."

"Why us?" Haku wondered. "Surely there are more qualified shinobi to protect him?"

"As if Ji-chan needs protecting." Naruko snorted. "He's the strongest of us all."

"True on both accounts but it appears that Daimyo-sama has heard about the two of you and he wants to meet you." Yuugao said proudly.

"The daimyo of Hi no Kuni wants to meet us?" Haku asked shocked. "Why?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say he wants to meet the kunoichi who have discovered the threat against Konoha." Yuugao said to them. "You'll leave first thing in the morning so you better prepare your stuff now. I don't think you'll run into any trouble but who knows."

"We'll be ready." Naruko assured her sister.

"I'm so proud of you two." Yuugao said engulfing both of them in a hug.

"We love you too, Yuugao-neechan." Naruko said happily.

The next morning Naruko and Haku were waiting at the gates for the Sandaime to arrive. Both of them were wearing their usual outfits and were ready to go at any moment. Yuugao and Anko had already said goodbye as both of them had other duties to turn to. It didn't take long for the Sandaime to arrive.

"Good morning, you two." Sarutobi said puffing his pipe. "Ready to go?"

"We were waiting for you Ji-chan." Naruko smirked while Haku bowed respectfully at the man.

"Very well, our destination is the city of Chiba." The Sandaime explained. "It's a small city about half a day's travel from here. There we will meet up with Daimyo-sama and his guards."

"It's just the three of us?" Haku asked him.

"Yes, I thought it better this way." The Sandaime said. "Normally, I'm accompanied by ANBU but I dispatched them with Jiraiya to investigate some suspected hideouts of Orochimaru. Others are busy doing missions as we need to keep up appearances for the outside world. We lost several good men and women during the attack and their help will be sorely missed in the village."

"Tsunade-baachan told us the final number yesterday when we went to see her." Naruko said sadly. "She was very sad that she couldn't do more for the ones who have sustained permanent injuries. Shizune-neehan too, was saddened by it."

"It's a part of being a shinobi, Naruko-chan." The Sandaime said. "Every day we risk our lives in order to protect the village and those we love. We all know what can happen during a mission and we're prepared to face that danger. But yes, seeing so many good shinobi hurt isn't something that we can just forget. But instead of pitying them, we should honor them for the sacrifices they have made."

"What is Daimyo-sama like?" Haku asked trying to change the subject. "Can you tell us something about him?"

"Where do I start?" The Sandaime chuckled. "Daimyo-sama is hard person to figure out. Most of the time he's pretty careless and easy to deal with. I have know him for many years now although when I first became Hokage I worked with his father. I must say that I prefer our current Daimyo over the old one."

"Why is that?" Naruko asked.

"The former Daimyo was a stubborn old man who refused to see the foolishness of his own actions." Sarutobi explained. "Don't get me wrong, we all make mistakes but he was arrogant beyond anything I have ever seen. He believed that he was meant to rule our world and had he had the power and opportunity I honestly believe he would have waged war upon war in order for his dream to come true."

"And the current Daimyo?" Haku asked.

"Oh he's quite the opposite in fact." The Sandaime smiled. "He loves peace and abhors war and violence. That doesn't mean he'll just let people walk over him though, he rules firmly and does not hesitate to do what is necessary to protect Hi no Kuni and its people. You should know this as he was the one to order Gato to be captured and his criminal empire destroyed."

"I wonder what he's like." Naruko said curiously.

"You'll see him soon enough." The Sandaime chuckled. He silently wondered how the girls would react to the Daimyo. The man did a good job at being a Daimyo but the man could be weird at times. That and the clothing he wore at times. It might be traditional but it just looked silly.

During the trip Naruko and Haku grilled the Sandaime about his days as a Genin and how he rose through the ranks until he finally became Hokage. Both Haku and Naruko were very interested in hearing about his days under the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage. Sarutobi loved to tell those stories and he enjoyed talking about the good old days before the wars.

"What were they like?" Naruko asked.

"Oh they were pretty much like you and me." Sarutobi said. "Hashirama-sama was considered one of the strongest shinobi, if not the strongest, during his lifetime but he was a pretty average guy outside of the shinobi arts. He loved his family and friends and once he and Uchiha Madara had proclaimed peace between their clans, he was mostly focused on founding the village."

"Uchiha Madara?" Haku asked interested.

"Ah yes, he was one of the founding fathers of Konoha." The Sandaime said. "He was the clan leader of the Uchiha and until then the Senju and the Uchiha had been bitter rivals. After years of fighting both clans grew tired of it and worked together to found Konoha. Both clans were vital to the village's early years."

"So that's why the Uchiha were so respected." Naruko mused not knowing that part of the village's past.

"Indeed they were." Sarutobi agreed. "But not everything was as perfect as it sounded. Although we will never know the details, it is believed that Uchiha Madara had hoped to become the Shodaime Hokage of Konoha and when Hashirama-sama was chosen instead, he left the village. He wanted revenge but lost in battle against Hashirama-sama."

"Wow, he must have been strong." Haku said impressed.

"Oh yes, he was strong." The Sandaime agreed. "It is even said that Uchiha Madara could control the Kyuubi. You might not know it but Hashirama-sama was capable of taming the Bijuu thanks to his Mokuton abilities. No one else had ever managed to subdue a Bijuu like that before. Nobody but Uchiha Madara that is."

"How did he do that?" Naruko asked shocked.

"I'm afraid we don't know." Sarutobi sighed. "Some believe that thanks to the powers of the Sharingan, he was able to control the beast. We can only guess if it's true or not."

"Well, then I for one am glad that he's not around anymore." Naruko shivered. "I don't want to know what he could to me."

"I understand but you have nothing to worry about." Sarutobi said. "The man died years ago and besides, I doubt someone could influence the Kyuubi while it's sealed."

"I hope you're right Ji-chan." Naruko whispered.

"What about Nidaime Hokage-sama?" Haku asked trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Ah now here I could tell you a lot more." Sarutobi chuckled. "Tobirama-sensei was much like his brother but much less outspoken. He was a calculating man, trying to see every angle of everything. He was the one who taught Koharu, Homura and myself."

"Your advisors?" Haku asked.

"Yes, we've know each other since our Genin days." Sarutobi said. "We were lucky to have such a wonderful Sensei. He was strict, demanding and sometimes brutal but he loved us and the village beyond anything. He was a great leader but sadly he sacrificed himself during the war with Kumo."

"That's when he appointed you to be the Sandaime Hokage, right?" Naruko said remembering that part.

"That's right, I was young at the time." Sarutobi chuckled. "Maybe too young but I wasn't about to fail him. The war was ending so I was lucky. Still, it took me a lot of effort and help from my fellow shinobi to lead Konoha through the troubled times after the war."

"I would have loved to see you when you were young." Naruko teased the man. "I just can't see it."

"Very funny, Naruko." The Sandaime said dryly. "How about we speed things up a bit? Walking around is fine but sometimes we need the thrill of speed."

"A race?" Naruko said delighted. "You're so on."

"Feeling confident aren't we?" The Sandaime chuckled. "Tell you what, I'll give you two a one minute head start. The village is straight east from here. Last one there pays for lunch."

Naruko and Haku looked at each other, both knowing that they had no chance of winning, and smiled before they started running. They weren't fooled though, there was no way they could beat the old man but it was a way to spend some time with him and have fun.

The Sandaime watched as his two adopted granddaughters jumped through the trees at high speed, trying to get as much distance as they could between them. He smiled at how they acted and hoped that he could see a lot more of those moments in his life. He had been willing to sacrifice his life during the battle with Orochimaru but now he was glad it didn't come to that. Now he planned to live his life to the fullest and see Naruko and Haku become the strongest shinobi in all of Konoha.


	28. Chapter 28

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Meeting the Daimyo

The city of Chiba was a small city compared to Konoha or any other of the major cities in Hi no Kuni. It was known for its being one of the preferred retiring places of the Daimyo and their families, whom had been coming here for years. It was this reason that transformed Chiba from a small country town to the city it was today. Before the Daimyo had discovered this city, it was nothing more than a small town filled with peasants and small time merchants.

Now it was a city with roughly a few thousand citizens and still growing. The visits of the Daimyo and his families ensured that people moved to the village to try their luck in building a new life in the budding city. The peasants and farmers welcomed the new families as it was good for business. Those new families had to be fed and had to earn a living. Soon after the village of Chiba transformed into the city of Chiba. The city of Chiba was renowned for its famous artwork in the homes of the nobles who lived there. It wasn't just the Daimyo and his family who came to this city and spend time here. It was also one of the several cities where the families of the nobles had to live.

The Daimyo, while popular and loved by most, was fearful of his nobles complotting against him and so he 'forced' the families of the nobles to live separately as a hostage of some sort. They were well treated and had a wonderful life but it made sure that the nobles wouldn't undertake any action against the Daimyo's. If one noble dared to attack or harm the Daimyo or his family, then that noble's family suffered the same. It was a practice that had been going on for generations and it seemed to work as no noble had ever dared to go against the Daimyo.

The current Daimyo found the system somewhat cruel and had eased up on the restrictions of the families that were forced to live away from their husbands and siblings. He gave them the right to travel as long as half of the family stayed in the city. Also the nobles used to be able to visit only once a year but now they could visit several times, when he approved of the trip. It had gained him a lot of favor amongst the nobles and their families. It was a strategic gamble that had paid off nicely but even he realized that some measure of control needed to be in place. That's why he didn't completely removed the system.

Of course there were nobles who opposed the Daimyo but those were dealt with as well. He banished them to the four corners of his country, making sure that they had no means of coming together and plot against him. The families of those nobles were held under harsher conditions but still relatively comfortable. The nobles were forced to pay for their upkeep and once or twice a year they had to pay a contribution to the Daimyo. That contribution was used to pay for the costs of building new cities or renewing the lands. This ensured that the nobles had little or no money to spend on other things, such as weapons. Again this was a system that had been in place for generations and would be for several more generations to come. There were always those who thought they knew better and tried to usurp power from the Daimyo.

All in all, the current daimyo had control over most of his country and wasn't about to leave that control in the hands of others. He had advisors who helped him rule and so far things had been going great. When the former Daimyo died, a little more of a decade ago, he had come into power and vowed to bring prosperity to his country and his subjects. Once or twice, things had gone south but nothing that couldn't be fixed easily. The wars of the past were over and slowly but surely Hi no Kuni recovered from the horrors of those wars. While it was true that most of the fighting was done by Konoha's shinobi, it still took a toll on the rest of the country. Innocents suffered just as much as the shinobi and more often than not, those innocents wanted nothing more than peace.

Today however he was meeting with none other than the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni and the Hokage to discuss what had happened during the invasion. The Daimyo wasn't pleased that Sunagakure had dared attack Konohagakure even if they were tricked into doing it by a third party. He was going to question his fellow Daimyo about how and why Sunagakure deemed it necessary to attack an allied nation like that.

When Sarutobi and his two travel companions reached the city it was just before noon. Sarutobi led them straight to the Daimyo's mansion just north of the city. Not surprising they had to pass a lot of guards and checkpoints but as they were expected and cleared by the Daimyo himself, proceedings went very swiftly and without any sign of trouble. A servant appeared at the door and guided them to the waiting room and said that the Daimyo and his following would arrive shortly.

"Nice place." Naruko concluded after looking around the room. It was a very luxurious room, decorated with art and the finest furniture either girl had ever seen.

"You didn't expect the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni to be poor, did you?" Sarutobi chuckled.

"Guess not." Naruko said blushing a bit.

After waiting a few minutes the servant returned saying they could follow her to see the Daimyo. Sarutobi thanked the girl who merely nodded and walked ahead. She guided the trio to the meeting room and opened the door for them saying she couldn't go any further.

Sarutobi and the girls entered the large room and saw at the far end of the room a large table with a man sitting at the table. Sarutobi, used to dealing with the Daimyo, walked up to the table and bowed his head in respect. Naruko and Haku did the same.

"Greetings, Daimyo-sama." Sarutobi said. "It's always a pleasure seeing you again. I hope you are in good health?"

"Sarutobi-san, the pleasure is all mine." The daimyo said holding a fan in front of him. "I'm happy to see you as well. Konoha wouldn't be the same without you there to guide them."

"Thank you for your kind words, Daimyo-sama." Sarutobi smiled at the man. "I owe my life to the two wonderful ladies behind me. May I introduce you to Uzumaki Naruko and Haku."

"Greetings Daimyo-sama, it's an honor to meet you." Both Haku and Naruko said bowing deeply to express their respect.

"Uzumaki Naruko and Haku?" The daimyo smiled. "Yes, if I remember correctly these were the two girls who uncovered the plot against Konoha?"

"That is correct, Daimyo-sama." Sarutobi said as the question was aimed at him. "They were the ones to see the traitor pass the guard post and alerted their sensei, who then followed him discovering the threat against Konoha and Hi no Kuni. Without that information Konoha would have suffered a lot more losses and much more damage."

"Excellent work." The daimyo said to both girls. "You have my thanks and I hope to hear more from the two of you in the coming years. Konoha and Hi no Kuni can always use two fine kunoichi as yourself. I expect great things from the both of you."

"Hai, Daimyo-sama." Naruko and Haku said very proudly. It wasn't everyday that a simple kunoichi or shinobi received the personal thanks of the leader of Hi no Kuni.

Just then the door opened again and two men entered the room. One was dressed in the finest kimono and the other was wearing fine robes as well but nothing like the other man. Sarutobi recognized the first as the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni. The other man was unknown to him but he had a good idea of who he was.

"Greetings, one and all." The first man said to everyone.

"Greetings to you as well, Daimyo-sama." Sarutobi and the rest said.

"I would like you to meet the representative of Sunagakure, Baki-san." The Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni said.

"It's an honor to meet all of you." The man said. He had a white cloth hanging over one side of his face and seemed a very powerful shinobi but somehow Naruko just couldn't see him as the next Kazekage. "I would first of all like to apologize for everything Sunagakure has done both to Hi no Kuni and Konoha. While it matters little and it shames us deeply, we were pushed into this war by Orochimaru, who posed as our leader. We will of course take full responsibility for our actions."

"Well said, Baki-san." The daimyo of Hi no Kuni said. "Let us proceed to the meeting."

Sarutobi looked at the girls and said that they were excused from the meeting as this was likely to take a while. They were told that they could visit the gardens and the city as they pleased by the Daimyo and that a servant would be at their disposal if they needed anything. Naruko and Haku thanked the man and left the room.

Naruko and Haku wandered around the mansion for a while before they found the beautiful garden adjourning the house. It had ponds and bridges, larges patches of green, bushes and trees. It was a garden build for enjoyment and relaxation. The girls sat down under one of the cherry trees, just enjoying the beautiful weather and peace. While Konoha had amazing greenery and parks, it was always crowed during the day with parents and their kids, young couples and elderly people running around.

* * *

For the next few hours Naruko and Haku just relaxed and enjoyed themselves. They kept their displays of affections small, just holding hands or a slight touch here or there, as they were still on a mission. They wouldn't want to shame Konoha or the Sandaime like that in front of the Daimyo. Their peace and quiet was interrupted when someone stormed out of the house. The girls looked up and saw a young man, around his late teens or early twenties, run outside. The man was being chased by a servant and bodyguard.

"Kenichi-sama, please wait." The servant begged loudly.

The young man ignored her completely and continued on until he noticed Haku and Naruko sitting in the garden. He stared at them for a few seconds before he made his way over to them. Seeing that the man was closely followed by a servant and a bodyguard, both Haku and Naruko understood that this man was a relative of the Daimyo so they quickly stood up.

"Look at this, Hiro it seems my mother finally sent me those girls I wanted." The young man said throwing lustful looks at Haku. "But I told her a thousand times that I don't like blonds." He glared at Naruko who was already suspecting what kind of man this guy was.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken Kenichi-sama." The guard said bowing deeply. "These are kunoichi from Konoha and are guests of your father."

"Kunoichi? No way, she's way too hot to be a shinobi." The man exclaimed looking at Haku. "It doesn't matter if she is, I want her." He made a grab for Haku's hand but before he could get even close Naruko took hold of his hand and squeezed it hard.

"Don't you dare touch Haku-chan." Naruko threatened the man.

The effect was instantly as the man went on his knees screaming in pain. The bodyguard reacted by grabbing the hilt of his sword but froze when Haku held a senbon to his neck. The servant who had been quiet look on in shock before she reacted as well.

"Please release Kenichi-sama immediately." The woman glared at Naruko. "Do you have any idea who his father is. When Daimyo-sama hears of this he'll have you executed."

Naruko cursed when she realized that she had hurt the son of the Daimyo and quickly let go of his wrist. Haku too, released the guard and stepped back. Both of them sank to one knee and apologized for their actions. Unfortunately, the son of the Daimyo wasn't interested in their apologies.

"How dare you attack me!" He yelled furiously. "I shall have you hanged by sundown for this insult." He roared at Naruko who just kept her head down. "My father shall hear of this, just you wait." He then turned to Haku. "And you, you should be honored that someone as great as me is interested in you. You should have been kissing my hems, you lowlife bitch."

"Please Kenichi-sama, we had no idea who you were." Naruko tried again. "We're sorry for our actions but…"

"But nothing! You two are nothing but filthy whores." Kenichi yelled again before he kicked Haku to the ground. Naruko sprang up again, lightning chakra erupting from her fists but she managed to control herself lest she made the situation even worse. She turned to Haku and helped her up. "Mark my words, I'll take you before the hour is done."

"You will not touch Haku-chan or myself in any way." Naruko said standing straight with narrowed eyes. "I don't care who you are but if you harm Haku-chan then I will kill you myself."

"How dare you threaten Kenichi-sama!" The guard said appalled.

"I'll threaten him and much worse if he dares takes one more step towards us." Naruko said as lightning erupted once more around her fists. "Just because he's the Daimyo's son doesn't give him the right to abuse women like he pleases."

Kenichi was about to raise his hand against Naruko when suddenly his name was called. Kenichi froze and slowly turned around, looking very pale all of a sudden. When he saw his father and the Sandaime Hokage standing there, he almost fainted on the spot.

"Father, they attacked me." He stammered. "I want them dead."

"Silence, worthless son of mine." The Daimyo ordered. "I have witnessed the entire thing and you have shamed me today. Naruko-san and Haku-san are esteemed guests of me and you insulted them with your behavior. You will apologize to them."

"But father…." Kenichi said not believing what he heard.

"I said apologize or I'll have you shipped to the poorest corner of Hi no Kuni where you will work as a peasant until I'm satisfied." The Daimyo said interrupting his son's plea. "Do not test me boy, as you'll find that my patience with you is as good as over."

Kenichi glared at both Haku and Naruko before he made a hasty apology. He then ran out of the garden not sparing another look at any of the people there. His servant and guard bowed deeply to the Daimyo and left to follow their charge around.

"I must apologize for my son." The Daimyo said shaking his head. "For years I have allowed my wife to spoil him and it has led him to be an arrogant young man. He expects to be treated like royalty just because he's my son. I have tried numerous times to break him out of those bad habits but so far my efforts have been in vain."

"There's no need to apologize Daimyo-sama." Naruko said quickly. "Nothing happened in the end."

"I must say that I'm surprised at how you two defended each other." The Daimyo said to them.

"We're best friends and we'll protect the other from any danger Daimyo-sama." Haku said smiling at the man. "No matter who or what we'll face, we won't let the other get hurt."

"Ah yes, the famous 'Will of Fire' of Konoha." The Daimyo laughed. "I'm sure this is the true strength of Konoha, isn't that right Sarutobi-kun?"

"You are correct of course Daimyo-sama." The Sandaime nodded. "And I must say that both Naruko and Haku have inherited the Will of Fire in a most amazing amount."

"That pleases me greatly Sarutobi-kun; it seems the future of Hi no Kuni and Konoha shines bright." The daimyo said. "Now, if you'll excuse me I need to deal with that son of mine. I wish you a good trip back to Konoha."

"Thank you Daimyo-sama." Sarutobi said bowing deeply. "Thank you for your hospitality."

* * *

Sarutobi and the two girls said their goodbyes and left the property. As it was late in the afternoon, the three of them decided that they would run back to the village instead of taking the scenic tour. After they left the city behind them, Sarutobi told them how the meeting had gone. It was very favorable to Konoha and Hi no Kuni as they had agreed that Sunagakure and Kaze no Kuni would take the costs of rebuilding for their own as an apology. Sarutobi had discussed with both the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni that they wouldn't accept any missions that crossed borders without consulting the other first. This had been a major reason for Suna to attack Konoha as the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni often gave missions to Konoha instead of Suna.

The Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni had a fierce dislike of the previous Kazekage and therefore preferred dealing with Konoha instead of Suna. Now that was known that the Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru some months ago, the Daimyo promised to fund the village again. Baki did have to provide the Daimyo with the promise that whoever the next Kazekage was, he would swear to protect Kaze no Kuni and his reign over it. Baki saw no problem in that as the village had never once thought of betraying the Daimyo.

A new peace treaty had been signed by both countries and villages. It was an update of the previous treaty as that one dated from after the war. Now Konoha and Hi no Kuni recognized Sunagakure as one of the major villages and both promised to come to the aid of the other in times of need. This meant that if one village was attacked, the other would automatically help the other with whatever they needed. Be it manpower, supplies or information. This was something that Sarutobi desperately needed as he wanted to make sure that he would get every piece of information about Akatsuki or Orochimaru. Both were too dangerous to stay ignored, there was no saying what they would do next. Even Jiraiya with his impressive spy network couldn't find everything.

Both countries had also agreed that for now no action would be taken against Ta no Kuni. This was where, according to the rumors, Orochimaru had founded his village. So far no one had been able to confirm this rumor. The Daimyo of Ta no Kuni, didn't attend or gave any reaction to the invitation for the meeting. While highly disrespectful it wasn't uncommon as it was possible that the Daimyo had previous engagements or simply ignored the rest of the world. Until Orochimaru had been found, both Konoha and Suna would stay on alert but no actions would be taken. Both villages had lost some very fine shinobi and preferred not to cause unnecessary deaths. The time would come when Orochimaru would come out of hiding and they could then act against him.

"So in the end, we came out on top?" Naruko asked the Sandaime.

"Yes, much better than expected." Sarutobi nodded. "Getting Suna and Kaze no Kuni to pay for reparations is a major victory that I hadn't dare hope for. A new peace treaty, where both parties are happy, is a rare thing and I believe we managed to achieve that. So yes, it was very satisfactory."

"Daimyo-sama seemed very nice." Haku said. "He's somewhat weird hiding behind that fan all the time but I think he's a good leader."

"His son on the other hand." Naruko grumbled. "What a jerk he was."

"Yes, but please be more careful the next time." Sarutobi warned them. "Don't get me wrong Naruko, you did the right thing but next time don't physically assault the son of the Daimyo again. You were lucky that Daimyo-sama vouched for both of you. If he hadn't then even I would have a lot of trouble saving you. The Daimyo's word is law and his son seems already to have realized that."

"He was going to hurt Haku-chan." Naruko said irritated. "I don't care who it is but nobody gets away with that."

"Thank you Naru-chan, you know I feel the same way about you." Haku smiled at her girlfriend.

"Sure." Naruko said quickly holding Haku's hand and squeezing it lovingly.

"I understand how you feel." Sarutobi said. "but you have to remember that he's the next in line for the position of Daimyo. Chances are that you'll have to answer to him once his father is gone. It would be foolish to make an enemy out of him."

"I know but he's still a jerk." Naruko said angry.

"That he is." Sarutobi agreed with her.

* * *

Elsewhere a lone Tokubetsu-Jounin was hurrying back to his village. Yoshida had been spying in Konoha after he had heard several Oto-Nin about the invasion of Konoha and how Konoha had managed to survive the attack of not one but two shinobi villages. When he had reported this to his leader he had been promoted and ordered to find out more about what had happened. After several days of spying in Konoha he had learned enough and not wanting to push his luck, had left to return to Iwagakure. He smiled when he saw the border and recognized the typical rock mountains that were so common in and around Iwagakure. While not as green as Konoha and Hi no Kuni in general, his native land and village had a certain beauty that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world.

For a novice the mountains were dangerous as rockslides happened more often than not. Also the crevices and ravines scattered around the lands were nothing to sneeze at. No invading Shinobi army had ever penetrated very deeply into the mountains as they were sure to lose many lives to accidents and attacks. Yoshida smiled as he recognized one of the more pronounced mountains, where once, a long time ago, a major battle had taken place between the several clans of shinobi before Iwagakure was founded. The plateaus in the mountains had served as battlefield for as long as there were shinobi around. Now however, the plateaus were used as training grounds where scores of Iwa-Nin trained in the arts of ninja.

Just beyond those mountains, hiding in the valley, was Iwagakure. The village used the natural defenses of the mountains to guards itself and gave an excellent protection from the elements. The village was big and had a populations easily matching that of Konoha. After passing the guards, Yoshida hurried through the streets greeting those he knew and taking rain-checks on meeting them for drinks. He had a mission report to hand in and he knew that the Tsuchikage would be impatient. The guards of the tower recognized him and let him pass without problem; they knew that their leader had been complaining about hips and they hoped that Yoshida would be able to distract him. They loved their leader but after hearing his complaints for years and years, they were happy to hear him talk about something else. Every since Yoshida had come back with that tidbit information about Konoha, their leader had been on a roll and was energetic for a few days until his hips started aching again and so he complained to them once more. Hopefully, Yoshida had some major news that would keep the Tsuchikage busy for a while.

"Yoshida, finally you're back." The Tsuchikage exclaimed. "What have you learned?"

"Sir, I successfully infiltrated Konoha though it wasn't easy." Yoshida started. "Konoha was still on high alert and guards were constantly checking for any sign of trouble. I managed to get inside by disguising myself as a merchant with false papers. Luckily, my contact was able to forge the papers and I made it inside. Like the rumors said, it seems Konoha managed to keep the damage from the invasion to a minimum. There were constructions and repairs ongoing but nothing that would indicate that the village has been invaded by two armies."

"So Konoha managed to fend off two armies just like that?" The Tsuchikage asked. "I find that hard to believe."

"I found it very suspicious as well so I did some further investigation." Yoshida said. "Just outside the village walls there was a lot more visible damage. Trenches in the ground, uprooted trees and so on. I found tracks that correspond with summons, more specifically Snake tracks."

"Orochimaru." The Tsuchikage said immediately. "Of course he would his summons to attack the village."

"I concluded the same thing, Tsuchikage-sama but still if Orochimaru used his summons the village would have taken a lot more damage." Yoshida reasoned. "It wasn't until I found another set of tracks that things started to make sense."

"Well out with it." The elderly Kage said impatiently.

"Sir, I found tracks belonging to a Toad." Yoshida said gulping a bit.

"So that pervert of a Jiraiya was at the village the time of the attack." The Tsuchikage mused. "Not totally unsuspected as they did know of the attack beforehand."

"Euhm, that's where things get worse." Yoshida said hoping his next words wouldn't be his last. "I spoke with several sources so I'm pretty sure of the accuracy of the claims but it's rumored that a young girl, Chuunin in rank, is the new Toad Summoner. It was she who summoned the Toads, more specifically she summoned Gamabunta."

"WHAT?" The Tsuchikage roared. "A new Toad Summoner? Who is this girl? And you expect me to believe that a mere Chuunin managed to summon the boss of the Toads?"

"I assure you Tsuchikage-sama. I checked my sources again and again but they all say the same thing." Yoshida quickly said. " They all say that a kunoichi defeated the Snake Summons by summoning Gamabunta."

"Okay let's calm down shall we?" The Tsuchikage said after his hips popped back into place. "So Konoha has a new Toad Summoner. Not the greatest news in the world but nothing we can do about it. I'm surprised that Jiraiya allowed anyone to sign that contract however. That's something to keep an eye on. Okay, what else do you have?"

"Actually, there was one more thing." Now Yoshida was practically sweating bullets but he forced himself to continue. "Suna didn't come without an ace so to speak. They brought their secret weapon, a Jinchuuriki."

"Hmmm, if I recall correctly Suna was given the Ichibi." The Tsuchikage said. "Wait a minute, are you implying that Suna's Jinchuuriki was defeated as well, without the village taking any damage whatsoever?"

"The Jinchuuriki never got to the village, sir." Yoshida said. "Once the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi unleashed his beast, that very same girl defeated him before he could make it even close to the village."

"Are you lying to me Yoshida?" The Tsuchikage said glaring at the young man in front of him. "Because what you're saying seems like a lot of bull. You wouldn't be inventing this stuff just to try and fool me, would you?"

"N-No Tsuchikage-sama." Yoshida said bowing deeply. "I would never commit such a crime."

"You mean to tell me that this girl, a Chuunin, not only managed to summon Gamabunta but also defeated the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi and survived to tell the tale?" The Tsuchikage asked just to be certain. "That is what you're saying isn't it?"

"Yes Sir." Yoshida said honestly.

Next thing Yoshida knew he had to duck as his esteemed leader chucked his desk out the window in pure fury. From everywhere Shinobi emerged, some to protect their leader and other to try and calm him down. Nothing worked and the Kage just kept on screaming and throwing things out the window. It wasn't until he made a wrong move and his hips popped, making him freeze in pain, that things calmed down again. After the Tsuchikage was put into his chair, he dismissed the other shinobi and motioned to Yoshida to continue.

"Yoshida, do you have the name of that kunoichi?" He asked tiredly.

"I wasn't able to confirm her identity." Yoshida stammered. "I did manage to find out that she's between the age of fourteen and sixteen and has blond hair."

"That's unfortunate but it's something at least." The Kage said somewhat disappointed. "Very well, Yoshida we'll leave the rest of your report for tomorrow. I need to think on what you've told me so far. Please record everything on a scroll so we can review it later on. Thank you for your hard work, your effort is appreciated never doubt that."

"Thank you Tsuchikage-sama." Yoshida said bowing deeply.

"Report to tomorrow morning for the rest of your report." The elderly man said before turning his back on Yoshida.

Yoshida left quietly once the chair was turned. He wasted no time and quickly left the tower, apologizing to the woman who was cleaning the glass from the broken window off the street. He went straight home and collapsed on his bed happy that he was still alive and had managed to impress his leader. For a short moment he had feared that the Tsuchikage would take out his anger on him but luckily the desk stood between him and the Kage. He was somewhat cautions because he had to continue giving his report the next day and truthfully he didn't have much more information left. Not that what he had already given so far hadn't angered the Tsuchikage already. Much more of such news and he was sure the Tsuchikage would have reduced the entire tower to dust. Sometimes being a shinobi sucked Yoshida thought.


	29. Chapter 29

I don't own Naruto.

Hi everyone and welcome to the new update of this story. It's been a while but frankly I have a good excuse. I'm all out of internet at my place and been so for the last month or so. The withdrawal symptoms have been brutal and to be honest, I'm surprise I survived this long to begin with. Anyway, my internet should be back in a few weeks so I should be able to make. I've come this far so I won't quit now.

Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you thought about it.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Time moves on

In another shinobi village a similar conversation was taking place. Tanaka Kenji, was reporting everything he had learned over the past few days about Konoha and the attack they suffered. That the Raikage was both intrigued and furious was evident when he obliterated his desk with a single punch. Kenji had told him how he had learned of Konoha's success against the invasion of two villages and had managed to get away with minor damage and losses.

"You're telling me that Konoha defeated two villages?" The Raikage asked furiously. "Not even Konoha is that good, there must be some trick."

"I assure you Raikage-sama, there's no trick." Kenji said. "I went to Konoha myself and checked with various sources both outside as inside the village. All the signs point to the fact that an invasion had taken place and while damage seemed minor, the people still talk about it. Konoha had defeated Suna and Oto in war."

"What the hell have they been doing?" E roared. "They may have been called the strongest village ever since the last war but this is ridiculous. Have they been strengthening their forces over the past decade?"

"I don't believe that's the fact, Raikage-sama." Kenji disagreed. "From what I've learned Konoha has had a small increase in manpower but nothing that would bring attention to them."

"Then how do you explain all of what you've told me." E asked.

"I believe they found out about the threat and prepared accordingly." Kenji explained. "If they were aware of the attack then they could have prepared in secret. That way they could get the invading army by surprise and seriously weaken them before the enemy figures out what is happening."

"Hmm, that's good thinking." E agreed. "Attacking a shinobi village who is aware of what is coming is suicide. They would have the advantage of fighting at home. Fact that Orochimaru was taught by the Sandaime Hokage would ensure that Konoha was somewhat aware of how he thought and acts. Still, it would take more than that to defeat such an overwhelming force."

"Well, I did hear some rumors that might explain that." Kenji told his leader.

"Such as?" E asked interested.

"It seemed that none other than Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya were present at the village." Kenji said watching how his leader narrowed his eyes.

"Impossible." E said. "Everyone knows that Tsunade abandoned the village years ago and hasn't set foot inside it ever since."

"Nonetheless she was there and that might explain the low losses in shinobi. She's the best Medic-Nin in the world so it stands to reason that they would want her back in the village." Kenji disagreed. "With her and Jiraiya in the village, they received a major boost in power."

"Have you seen her?" E wanted to know.

"No but I heard several independent sources confirm her presence." Kenji said shaking his head.

"Even if she was back, that doesn't change all that much." E nodded. "You said Suna brought their Jinchuuriki?"

"Yes, a young boy named Gaara. He was their secret ace as he was to unleash the Bijuu and destroy the village." Kenji explained again.

"Is he in control?" E asked referring to how his brother, Bee and Yugito were able to control the Bijuu sealed inside them.

"I wasn't able to find out." Kenji said fearfully for how the Raikage would react. "But I do know that he unleashed the beast but was defeated before it could make it to the village walls."

"Defeated? By who?" E demanded to know.

"I'm not sure if this information is correct but rumors in the village say that it was a young Chuunin who defeated him." Kenji gulped.

"A Chuunin? A Chuunin defeated the Jinchuuriki when he unleashed the Ichibi?" E asked not really believing what he heard.

"In fact, I tried to find out more about this Chuunin." Kenji quickly said. "She appears to be a newly promoted Chuunin, around the age of fifteen. Sixteen at most. What really baffles me is that she rumored to be the new Toad summoner and that Jiraiya of the Sannin has taken an interest in her."

"Jiraiya allowed someone to sign the Toad contract?" E roared. "That contract is one of the strongest Summons in the Elemental Lands. Why would he allow a rookie Chuunin to become the new summoner of the Toads?"

"I have no idea, Raikage-sama." Kenji said bowing deeply. "I did found out that she defeated the Jinchuuriki with a Raiton Jutsu big enough to engulf it entirely. Strangely enough, it appears that the Jinchuuriki himself managed to survive the attack with only a few serious burns."

"A Raiton user you say?" E said interested. "What Jutsu did she use?"

"Again, I couldn't find out." Kenji said. "All I have managed to discover is that her last name is Uzumaki."

"That name sound vaguely familiar." The Raikage said. "Where have I heard that name before?" He pondered for a while but couldn't seemed to remember where he read or heard that name before. He was getting irritated with the whole thing and slammed his fist into the wall. Bricks and mortar exploded everywhere but people in the street never reacted. It seemed they were used to the Raikage's outbursts. "Anything else?"

"That about covers everything I learned." Kenji admitted.

"Good, I want you to hit the archives. I know that name from somewhere but I don't know from where." E said. "I'm sure it wasn't during the time I've been Raikage. I want you to search the previous Raikage's notes and find me a connection. Don't come back until you found it. Dismissed."

Kenji could only gulp in horror as he exited the Raikage's office. The archives were huge and everyone who had ever worked there considered it as the ultimate form of punishment. It was the size of several libraries and although there was a system in place to find what you're looking for, the archives held so much that it was virtually impossible to find it.

Kenji sighed knowing that he would spend the next several weeks, if not months, stuck inside the archives looking for whatever the Raikage wanted. The previous Raikage had reigned for almost twenty years, meaning that the amount of notes he made would be enormous. He vowed to get stupidly drunk that night as it would be the last chance he would have in a very long time.

* * *

In Konoha a certain team was making their way back from another C-rank mission. Even though they were promoted to Chuunin a few months back, Naruko and Haku had decided that for the time being they would continue doing missions with their Jounin-sensei, Uzuki Yuugao. They had several other duties to perform outside of missions as well but they were fine with those.

The reason why the decided to continue to work in their little team was that neither girl felt ready to lead a team through missions just yet. They felt they needed some more experience in the field as well as get stronger. As a Chuunin they had access to the higher level missions and that was exactly what they needed.

Their last mission was a low C-Rank mission where they needed to protect a village's crops from being destroyed or stolen by a local gang focused on terrorizing the small village. Needless to say the gang met an untimely defeat when they choose to attack the village one night. The three kunoichi had killed three of the leaders and the others were nothing more than followers. Most of them surrendered on the spot and those that didn't were shown the errors of their ways. At least they would once they regained consciousness after the beating they received.

All in all it had been a pretty boring mission. Naruko and Haku didn't complain though as these kind of missions needed to be done as well. The Sandaime had long since explained that every mission mattered to the village, be it a C-rank or an S-rank mission. All of them were important in order to help sustain the village. That didn't mean they didn't want some better missions once in a while. It just meant that they weren't picky.

After reporting to the Sandaime, Naruko and Haku wondered around the village for a bit. Things had been going really well ever since the invasion and many people treated them with a smile and respect. To Naruko that was something new as she had never been treated that nicely before because of the Kyuubi. Now at least people were willing to give her a chance and get to know her a little better and that was all she had ever wanted. Naruko never wanted them to treat her like royalty, just some respect and friendliness was more than enough for her.

Seeing that it was still early the two of them headed to their favorite training ground to get some training done. Both Naruko and Haku had been working on learning new things and getting stronger in order to protect the village they loved so much. The invasion had shown many of the younger shinobi that Konoha wasn't as undefeatable as they believed. They had seen firsthand how the fighting had gone and both of them realized that if they hadn't found out about the invasion beforehand things wouldn't have gone so smoothly for Konoha. Heaven forbid if Konoha would ever fall.

So in order to prevent such a thing from happening they trained and trained, from early in the morning to late at night. The two of them had grown in leaps and bounds according to their sensei but it still didn't feel enough. So they worked on polishing their skills and learning new ones.

When they reached the training field, Haku leaned closer to Naruko and whispered in her ear.

"We're being followed." She said softly.

"I know and whoever it is, sucks at stealth." Naruko said aware of their stalker.

"What do you want to do?" Haku asked smiling.

"Let's wait and see what happens." Naruko said shrugging. "Whoever it is, is no threat to us."

Haku nodded and continued to walk towards the middle of the grounds with Naruko in her wake. They didn't have to wait long as the moment they stopped walking, some shuriken headed their direction. Haku quickly made a senbon out of ice and deflected all of them while Naruko stood there like nothing was going on.

When all the shuriken had been deflected Naruko picked one up only to see that the edges were blunt and the points had been filed off. Frowning she looked at Haku who nodded having the same thought as her girlfriend. Only academy students used these blunted weapons, so it was obvious to them that they were dealing with academy student. Naruko spotted someone sitting in a tree on her right side and threw the Shuriken. When she heard a muffled 'Ow' and then a loud scream she knew she had hit someone. Next thing she knew a kid hit the ground after falling out of the tree. Both Haku and Naruko hurried over to see if they kid hadn't hurt himself.

"Are you okay?" Haku asked concerned at the small boy lying down on the ground.

"Auw, that hurt damn it." The kid said after jumping up and glaring at Naruko who bonked him on the head.

"Watch your mouth!." She told him sternly. "What's the big idea following us around and throwing some dull shuriken at us?"

"That's the second time you hit me." The kid looked at her in shock. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Perhaps if you had introduced yourself instead of attacking us, Naruko-chan wouldn't have had to hit you." Haku said gently but still slightly stern at the boy. "My name is Haku and this is Naruko. Now what is your name?"

"I'm Konohamaru and I'm the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage." The boy said introducing himself.

"Well, nice to meet you Konohamaru-kun." Naruko said recalling how the Sandaime talked about his grandson.

"You called me by my name!" Konohamaru said shocked. "Almost nobody does that. They always call me 'Honorable grandson' or something like that."

"So Konohamaru-kun, why are you following us?" Haku asked him again.

"The old man always talks about you two at home." Konohamaru said glaring at both of them. "He's always saying things like how the two of you will become the strongest shinobi ever in Konoha. He even said that he's sure that you'll be Hokage someday." He pointed at Naruko. "So I wanted to see just how good you are."

"Ji-chan said that?" Naruko asked happy that her grandfather said such kind words about her and Haku.

"Yeah, that and much more." Konohamaru glared at them. "He's constantly bragging about the two of you."

"So you attacked us because of that?" Haku asked him. She thought she understood the boy's feelings. Perhaps he was a little jealous of how the Sandaime always talked about them.

"No, I attacked because I'm going to be the next Hokage and not you." He said to Naruko directly. "The title of Hokage is mine and I'll take it from the old man soon enough."

"Oh so you wanted to get rid of your rival, is that it?" Naruko smiled catching on to the little boy's plan.

"That's right so prepare yourself." Konohamaru said before he lashed out with a clumsy punch aimed at Naruko. She easily dodged it of course and Konohamaru tried again only to fail once more. "Stand still damn it."

"I told you to watch your mouth." Naruko said bonking him on the head again.

"Ha, you won't defeat me that easily." Konohamaru said with a small tear in his eyes.

"Tell you what, how about a real spar?" Naruko said. "I'll use a Kage Bunshin. Do you know what that is?" Seeing him shake his head, she quickly explained it to him. "So if I make ten Kage Bunshin, each clone will have a tenth of my strength. Get it?" Konohamaru nodded slowly. "So all you have to do is manage to hit my clone once and the victory is yours."

"What do I get?" Konohamaru asked.

"How about the fact that I'll accept you as my rival for the position of Hokage?" Naruko grinned.

"Deal." Konohamaru said.

"Okay, in order to keep it fair, my clone won't fight back." Naruko said. "It will only dodge your attacks so don't be afraid of getting hit."

"I'm not afraid of anything." Konohamaru said confidently. "Bring it on."

Naruko nodded and both she and Haku went to sit down at the edge of the training field, leaving one of the ten Kage Bunshin behind while she instructed the other to do something useful in the mean time.

For almost half an hour the two of them watched as Konohamaru tried to hit the clone. Of course, seeing that Konohamaru was just an academy student, an earlier year student to be exact, he had no chance whatsoever. Still, Haku and Naruko were impressed with the boy. No matter how many times he missed, he tried again and again. In the end he was barely standing and Naruko signaled the clone to finish it. When Konohamaru attacked again, the clone dodged a few punches and then let itself be hit by a clumsy kick.

Konohamaru grinned in victory as he saw the clone dispel. He was exhausted so the thought that the clone actually let itself be hit never entered his mind. He cheered loudly before he turned to Naruko with a huge smile on his face.

"I d-did it." He stammered. "I told y-you I'm s-strong."

"You sure did." Naruko said smiling. "Very well, Sarutobi Konohamaru, from this day on you'll be my rival for the position of Hokage. Better train hard because I'm not losing to a gaki like you."

"I'm n-not a g-gaki." Konohamaru managed to say before he fell to ground. Naruko and Haku weren't concerned however as they could hear him breath gently showing that the boy had merely fallen asleep.

Naruko gently picked him up and carried him on her back with Haku following closely. Since they didn't know where he lived they figured that they might as well drop him off with the Sandaime. Haku kept smiling at Naruko.

"You let him win." She stated.

"Of course, I did." Naruko shrugged. "I mean, he may be a brat but there's no reason to kill his dream is there? You have to admit he was pretty impressive back there."

"You like him." Haku grinned.

"I do not." Naruko denied. "You know I hate brats."

"Whatever you say, Naru-chan, your secret is safe with me." Haku said smiling at Naruko.

Naruko huffed but she didn't reply. In truth, she was really impressed by the little guy. Sure he didn't actually defeat her clone but he managed to continue the fight for almost half an hour and that was impressive to say the least. Most kids that age would have given up a long time before that but Konohamaru pressed on. That alone proved her that he was serious about becoming Hokage even if he was a little misguided in how to achieving it.

When they dropped him off at the Hokage's tower, the Sandaime assured them that he would get Konohamaru home safely. He thanked them for spending time with his grandson and explained how Konohamaru tried to ambush him almost daily. Naruko laughed when he told them how one time Konohamaru had tripped on his scarf causing him to fall on his face. After spending some time with their adopted grandfather they bid him goodbye telling him to pass their greetings to his grandson.

When the girls got home and told their sisters what had happened both Anko and Yuugao had been roaring with laughter. The thought of Naruko having a rival in an academy student was just too funny in their eyes. Naruko glared at them and told them that she didn't mind having a rival for the position of Hokage, even if it was a young boy. The teasing went on a little longer but after that it stopped. Anko and Yuugao knew exactly how far they could push Naruko and when they got close to that point they stopped. Teasing was fun and all but when exaggerated it could hurt people's feelings badly.

* * *

Talking about bad feelings, a certain Snake Sannin was feeling pretty bad himself. It wasn't that he was in pain or something but rather that he was feeling humiliated and ridiculed. All of his plans had been destroyed when Konoha, almost effortlessly, defeated his invading army consisting out of both Oto and Suna shinobi. Years of planning and scheming destroyed in one fell swoop. It was enough to even vex a man such as Orochimaru.

Now, if he had managed to kill the Sandaime then he would have felt better about it but even that didn't work out. The old monkey still had a fight in him and while old and withered, the man was more than a match for Orochimaru. Even when he summoned the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage, he still didn't manage to dispose of his former teacher. Of course, if Jiraiya hadn't intervened then maybe things would have been different. That was also something the Snake Sannin couldn't understand. How did that blasted barrier disappear all of a sudden. No, he knew why it disappeared; it was because his guards had been defeated but that was supposed to be impossible. That particular barrier was one of the strongest he knew. It was virtually impenetrable as it protected the people who erected it in the first place. Yet somehow, two of them got killed and the barrier instantly collapsed.

What angered him as well was that his four guards were killed by the ANBU. It wasn't that he felt personally attachment to them , after all they were just orphans he picked up from the streets during his travels. It was rather that those four were one of the few to have survived after been given the cursed seal. They had even mastered the second stage of the seal, the only ones to ever do without losing their lives or their minds to the transformation. He had wanted to experiment some more on them to find out why they had succeeded where other had failed. Now however that research would have to be postponed for months, if not years. If only he had succeeded in giving Uchiha Sasuke the cursed seal during the second stage of the Chuunin Exams. At least then he would have something to look forward to, but even that had failed. He hadn't thought much of the ANBU guard that protect Sasuke at the time, as he figured it was to protect the Sharingan from being lost. Now he knew better as it was obvious now that the guard was there to protect Sasuke from him.

Everything that could have gone wrong during his invasion of Konoha had gone wrong he realized. From the very beginning Konoha had been aware and preparing for the attack, making it sure he was going to fail in his destruction of Konoha. Having to retreat was humiliating but it was the only way he would live. Even he had no chance against both Tsunade and Jiraiya, backed up with some of the strongest shinobi in Konoha. Still it was a major blow to his reputation and he was glad there wasn't such a thing as a card club for S-Ranked Nukenin. He would have been the laughing stock for months!

He was sure that words of his defeat had already been going around by now. He had a few spies here and there, all telling him that words of Konoha's new military power had been heard by every major Shinobi Village. That meant that word of his defeat had reached them as well and his anger grew daily. If that wasn't enough, he was sure that Akatsuki had heard that Suna's Jinchuuriki had been used in the invasion. If they thought that he endangered the life of their precious Jinchuuriki, he would need to watch his back even more closely. He had no disillusions about the fact that they could destroy him, if they so wanted to. That was the only reason he kept his mouth shut about them. He was not foolish enough to anger eight S-Ranked Nukenin. Especially not people like Uchiha Itachi and the likes.

Uchiha Itachi, that name alone brought fear into his mind and body. A few years ago, he had tried to overtake Itachi's body only to fail miserably. Itachi was way beyond his own level and that led to him leaving Akatsuki. There was no way he could work together with a group where almost every single member was just as strong, if not stronger than himself. Also with his attack on Itachi, he had shown he was not trustworthy, making leaving the only option to stay alive. He also realized that they hadn't hunted him down yet because he posed no threat to them as of now. That might change when they heard about the invasion.

He would need to lay low for awhile, he was sure of that. Konoha wouldn't send anyone after them in fear of losing good men and women but Akatsuki was different. Yes, retreating to one of his more remote bases sounded pretty good to him. Once there he could think about getting revenge for the humiliation he had suffered once more thanks to Konoha.

* * *

It had been roughly six months since the invasion of Konoha had taken place. The village had largely recovered by now and all the damage was repaired. This was something that took priority because clients weren't inclined to use the service of a village that lay in shambles. Luckily everyone in Konoha pulled together and repairs were done swiftly. For a few weeks after the invasion, everyone had been tense and somewhat scared of a new attack but now everyone was relaxed and happy. Both emotional and physical wounds had mended and life took its everyday course again for most of them. Still, the invasion had left many with food for thoughts. Especially amongst the Genin there were lots of mixed feelings. While most of them had been kept out of the battle, they had still witnessed the attack and had left an impression behind. Most of them had realized that they were still very green and wet behind the ears compared to the Chuunin and Jounin that had fought. Instead of letting that bother them however, they pushed themselves even harder than before. Each team had been doing mission after mission, gathering experience and getting stronger. Even the Jounin sensei tried to ensure that their students would get stronger because unlike the Genin, they were aware of the climate outside the village. It wasn't visible yet but those who had fought in the previous war could tell that the embers of war were burning. Nothing had happened so far but the tension was rising. Konoha had sent to all major villages that they had no intention of starting a war. The message had been received but mostly ignored. The other villages didn't believe Konoha's claim of not having reinforced their shinobi numbers. The fact that Konoha defeated two villages in one go, didn't help either.

One other thing that resulted out of the invasion was that Naruko and Haku had been getting a reputation as kunoichi. The fact that both of them had been named or mentioned by the spies who investigated the invasion afterwards had been enough to raise suspicion and curiosity. Now however their names started getting spread throughout Hi no Kuni and beyond. The number of missions they had successfully finished was staggering and their records was spotless so far. The missions they had done, all had very satisfying customers, who returned whenever they had a new demand of Konoha.

It was even decided that Jiraiya would keep his distance from Naruko and Haku for the time being. That Naruko had signed the Toad contract was already known so they couldn't hide that anymore. Jiraiya however wanted to take on Naruko and Haku as his apprentices in order to prepare them for Akatsuki. In order to calm the other shinobi villages, the Sandaime had ordered Jiraiya to wait and support the girls in secret. Jiraiya provided them with scrolls and new jutsu but remained in the shadows as none of them wanted to provoke the other villages. Naruko and Haku had been getting very popular in Konoha as well. Especially amongst the academy students. Iruka had asked them several times to visit the classroom as they were such an inspiration to the kids. Naruko refused at first but Haku insisted that they took the change to get to know the future generation of shinobi. It would be good for them to make friends and allies amongst the younger generation. After all, if Naruko wanted to become Hokage she would need the support of the shinobi in the village. So what better way to gain that support by become those kids' idols? Naruko couldn't argue with that kind of statement.

With their reputations growing both inside of outside Konoha, the girls were being pushed to the limit by Yuugao. She agreed with Jiraiya that for a shinobi, reputation was bad. The less there was known about you, the better. So she pushed both Naruko and Haku as hard as possible. Even Anko had once mentioned that she was going too strongly about it, which said enough as Anko was normally the one doing the pushing. Still Naruko and Haku didn't complain one bit. they could feel the improvement they had made over the past few months. They had learned several more Jutsu and improved on the ones they knew before.

Naruko, with her exceptional control of Raiton and Fuuton jutsu had created several new techniques, with several others in state of development. Her own jutsu, like the 'Raiton: Dengeki no yoroi' had been mastered and improved little by little. Even Kakashi, also a Raiton user, had been impressed with that particular jutsu. Right now she was creating several new Raiton jutsu that would help her during battle. She knew that she was lacking in long distance jutsu so that was she was working on. She already had two jutsu finished an several others on the way. Fuuton jutsu had been a blast to work on and she and Haku had lots of ideas that she was itching to try out in battle. With her Raiton Taijutsu style she had a devastating close combat style but now she was trying to create a way to use Fuuton as well. If she could master both of them to a degree where she could switch between the two, she would be deadly in a fight. Not that she wasn't already.

Another things she was working on was Fuinjutsu. During the time she traveled with Jiraiya and Tsunade, she had been shown just how awesome seals could be. The stories of her father's accomplishments with Fuinjutsu only made her want to learn more. But it was when she heard stories about her dad's Hiraishin no Jutsu that truly got her interests peaked. The possibilities of that technique seemed endless to her and she vowed to learn it one day. Sadly, Jiraiya refused to teach her the necessary seals until he deemed her ready. For that to happen she was to master everything else he taught her and then some. Besides, teaching her that jutsu now would been seen as a declaration of war by Iwagakure, as her dad had defeated many a squadron with that jutsu.

Haku focused on her Kekkei Genkai. She had created several new Hyouton jutsu, one more powerful than the other. She had also started working on her Suiton mastery. As her Kekkei Genkai used both Fuuton and Suiton chakra, she needed to master both of them to make her Hyouton jutsu more powerful and accessible. The better she got at Suiton Jutsu, the less she would be dependent of a water source to make Hyouton Jutsu. Of course, mastery over Suiton Jutsu didn't come easily. It could take years to master a Chakra element. The best Suiton user in the history of the Leaf had been the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He was able to create water out of the air and perform Suiton Jutsu that normally took enormous amounts of water and chakra. So Haku made it her goal to become best Suiton user since the Nidaime Hokage. She didn't neglect her Fuuton element either but as the Fuuton Chakra came secondary to Suiton, she focused less on Fuuton. She learned how to manipulate it but didn't learn any Fuuton Jutsu outside a few offensive jutsu.

Haku's Kenjutsu had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to constant sparring with Yuugao. She was currently learning the more advanced forms of the style and Haku could tell how powerful it was. It was difficult to learn and required patience and flexibility. Luckily Haku had both so she didn't have any trouble. Yuugao was amazed at how her pupil progressed but didn't say anything, making sure Haku didn't got too confident. Though there was little chance of Haku becoming arrogant, the girl was too nice for that.

The two girls had also found several new friends in the village. One them was TenTen, the kunoichi of Team Nine, who was just as serious in her training as they were. It was a welcome surprise to see another kunoichi of their age that took her training seriously for once. They had met when Lee had challenged both Haku and Naruko in a Taijutsu match, which they declined at the time because he was still recovering from his operation as Tsunade had been able to heal the wounds inflicted by Sabaku no Gaara during the Chuunin Exam.

Since they couldn't spar, they decided to help each other out during training. TenTen, whose aim was to become Konoha's best Weapon's Mistress, practically drooled when Haku created her sword. For a weapon fanatic like TenTen, being able to create your own sword like that, was her biggest dream and fantasy. She had practically forced Haku into sparring with her and never stopped admiring how Haku's sword managed to stay in one piece, even when she used her strongest attacks against it.

They had also worked with the other Genin teams of Konoha. Mostly they got along fairly well with all of them but some better than the others. Especially Team Seven had a problem. Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were down one team member when Matsuda Tsuyoshi left the team to become part of the ANBU Torture and Investigation Squad only weeks after the invasion. So with only two members, Team Seven was stuck when it came to missions. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura had liked this very much.

Tsuyoshi however had made the best decision of his life by joining the ANBU. His talent for spotting lies and getting inside the heads of other was quickly discovered and Morino Ibiki himself had decided to take the young boy on as his apprentice. Tsuyoshi adored the man and had quickly started emulating the man. Now he wore a trench coat and bandana as well. On top of that, in honor of his first sensei Hatake Kakashi, he also wore a face mask. All in all he looked very intimidating, which was the point of course.

The other person Tsuyoshi had taken a shine to was Anko. As Ibiki's partner in ANBU they worked together a lot and Anko liked the young boy. He was smart, sneaky, brilliant and most of all he had a wicked yet somewhat sadistic sense of humor. It didn't take long for Anko to understand that young Tsuyoshi had somewhat of a crush on her. When she told her lover and sisters about it, Yuugao had found it cute while Naruko and Haku thought it was hilarious and didn't stop teasing Anko for weeks about it. It was a fitting payback for all the teasing they had suffered from Anko.


	30. Chapter 30

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of this story. It's been a while since I updated and I apologize for doing so. I won't give you any excuses but simply tell you that I either didn't have time to post or didn't feel like it. I've been working on another story that has my mind fully occupied so my other stories went on the backburner for awhile.

I'll try to do better in the future. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Thirty: A test from the Daimyo

Naruko and Haku walked to the Hokage tower to get their weekly duties. As a Chuunin they were given some extra duties on top of their regular missions which were mostly consisting out of guard duty or helping out another team. Neither girl particularly liked guard duty but it came with the responsibilities of being a Chuunin. One plus point was that they always got to meet new people or meet up with those they considered friends already. Two of their favorites were Kotetsu and Izumo, two other Chuunin, who were always making them laugh with some of the things that they had been through.

When they reached the tower they quickly went inside to the mission room. The assistant already knew them well enough by now and he waved them hello before opening the doors for them. They smiled and waved back, entering the room at the same time. Inside the Sandaime was already waiting for them.

"Ah, there you are." The Sandaime said taking another paper from the pile. "I was waiting for you two to get here."

"Sorry to make you wait, Hokage-sama." Haku apologized.

"Nonsense Haku-chan, it's not like this is urgent anyway." The old man smiled.

"So what do you have in store for us now?" Naruko asked him. "Don't say guard duty at the gate again."

"Nope, something else." Sarutobi said smiling. "You and Team Seven will be patrolling Konoha Prison Facility. Don't worry, you will be assisted by several other Chuunin but you'll be guarding Flour Three together with Team Seven."

"Konoha Prison Facility?" Naruko asked. "I heard of it but never been there. It's supposed to be impenetrable and once you become a prisoner there, you never get out."

"Indeed." The Sandaime said. "It's Konoha's prison for some of the worst criminals our village have seen. Murderers, rapists, thieves and Missing-Nin are all locked up inside. Not once have we had a break-out of any sort. The prisoners are kept under constant guard and those who have knowledge of Chakra or are former shinobi have a Chakra-Repressing seals place on them."

"That's harsh." Naruko said stunned. That particular seal was one of the many she had started to learn from her godfather. It was a seal that forcibly suppressed the use of Chakra. If that person tried it anyway, the seal would activate and suppress the Chakra. This was not pleasant as it hurt like hell, making it feel like your entire body was burning from the inside out. It was a very effective way to deal with prisoners.

"Yes but necessary." Sarutobi agreed. "Remember those who are placed in that facility are some of the worst criminals around. Don't feel bad for them as they deserved their punishment."

"We understand, Hokage-sama." Haku nodded.

"Very well. Team Seven is already aware of the duty and are waiting for you outside." The Sandaime said. "Normally, no Genin would be allowed inside the facility but as they are short a team member, they haven't done any serious mission in a while. They need the experience and shouldn't be held back because we can't find a suitable team mate at the moment."

"No problem, we know how to deal with both of them." Naruko laughed. "It's not the first time we worked together."

"I know and each time things go bad." The Sandaime sighed. "Please try to get along this time."

"It's not us." Haku explained. "We get along fine in the beginning but after just a few hours both Sakura and Sasuke start getting on our nerves. Sakura, while she made excellent progress over the past few months, is still hung up on Sasuke and doesn't stop annoying him."

"Which puts Sasuke in a foul mood." Naruko continued. "And Sasuke being in a foul mood means him complaining about everything that goes wrong in his life. He's been a real jerk lately."

"Yes, I know. Don't think this has escaped my attention." Sarutobi nodded. "I've warned Kakashi about his student's behavior and he has been trying to rectify them ever since. Just give them a chance and things will work out, I'm sure."

"We'll try." Both Haku and Naruko said. "See you soon, Ji-chan."

* * *

Konoha's Prison Facility was a fortress. Getting inside for non-prisoners was difficult with several check-points and guards along way. Getting out was even more difficult. The Prison was protected by large, thick walls lined with seals that would incapacitate even Gamabunta. It had several floors, each floor designed to be a maze for the inmates. Each floor was assigned to the level of crime you had committed. The lower the floor, the bigger the crime. Thieves and such were imprisoned on the highest floor; second floor was home to the people who had committed all sorts of crime with exception of rape and murder; third floor held those whole killed and raped and finally the fourth floor held traitors and Missing-Nin.

All prisoners had their own cell which was nothing more than a small cubicle with a bed and toilet. No luxury what so ever. During the day, they did manual labor for twelve hour straight until they were escorted back to their cells. Food was giving in the morning and evening and even then just enough not to grow hungry.

When Naruko and Haku arrived with Team Seven, they were escorted to the meeting room. Since this was the first time they came here they needed to be briefed on procedures and rules. The Guard Captain, Ikeda Hideo, was a large man covered with scars and reminded Haku and Naruko of Ibiki. Luckily he seemed a lot more relaxed that the head of the Torture and Investigation Squad.

"Alright, a quick few words." Hideo said. "I'm sure you all know that this facility holds some of the worst scum around. These aren't some choir boys who got caught sipping the wine. These are killers and rapist so best to remember that. Especially you girls." He said turning to them. "Most of these men haven't seen a real woman in years so they might get a little loud. Don't worry, they can't hurt you. Just be ready to hear some noise."

"Don't worry Ikeda-san, we're used to it." Naruko said to the man. "Nothing we haven't heard before, right Haku-chan."

"Of course." Haku nodded in agreement.

"Good, now the other rules that must be followed." Ikeda said. "First, no talking to the prisoners. They haven't received any word from the outside world and I want it to stay that way. The less they know, the less trouble they can be. Two, do not approach the cells. They are protected but we don't take any chances. Three, no giving food or anything what so ever to the prisoners. These are resourceful fellows and would use anything they get their hands on to escape. Is that clear?"

The four quickly nodded their agreement. Ikeda smiled and called in a few Chuunin that would help out with the rounds. They were to follow orders from them and do as they were told. They didn't expect any trouble but you never know. Ikeda then wished them good luck and said he would see them for debriefing in about eight hours.

Naruko and the rest quickly introduced themselves to the Chuunin and were told to follow them. Each floor had a guard post where two Chuunin took guard. On top of that several guards patrolled the floors, making sure the prisoners were behaving. That was what Naruko and company would be doing. They would patrol each floor and see if everything was as it should.

The first floor gave no trouble at all. These were prisoners who still had hope to finish their sentence and start again outside so they had no intention of starting any trouble. Most of them were thieves and such, so nothing really dangerous. The second floor held the long term prisoners who had committed heavy crimes but might get out someday. Those were a little more interested in the girls when they past but they remained calm. The third floor is where things got interesting. Rapist and murderers were held here and those had no chance of getting free any time soon. So when Naruko, Haku and Sakura passed, loud whistles and perversities were used.

Naruko and Haku didn't bother with them but Sakura seemed a bit intimidated and walked in the middle of the hallway, making sure none of them could get hold of her. The Chuunin that accompanied them quickly reassured her that she was perfectly safe and nothing would happen to her.

"I hate perverts." Sakura said still not convinced. "This is the worst assignment ever."

"Get a grip Sakura." Naruko snorted. "They can't get to you so stop being a baby. Besides if you trained a little more, you would be strong enough to deal with any of them. That way you wouldn't have to worry about getting caught."

"Shut up." Sakura simply glared at the blond.

They continued walking until suddenly a man noticed the blond and black haired girl and started banging on the door yelling. Naruko and Haku recognized him immediately as Gato. Naruko took a step closer to Haku as this man had been responsible for the death of her father figure, Zabuza.

"You! You two bitches are the ones who put me here." Gato yelled. "You'll pay for this, I swear. When I get out of here, I'll make you regret messing with me."

The Chuunin wasn't about to let Gato get his way and activated a security seal placed outside the cell. When he activated the seal, Gato fell to the ground unconscious. The Chuunin explained that the seal was linked with a seal on the prisoner and when activated, the prisoner would receive a shock, knocking him out. It was one of the many security measures in place.

"You know that guy?" The Chuunin asked them.

"Yeah, he was a big time criminal lord." Naruko explained. "We took him out months ago as he was gaining too much influence in Hi no Kuni. He had also terrorized an entire island in Wave."

"He was a weak, petty little man but his money ensured that he could hire anyone he needed to do his dirty work." Haku said. "A lot of good people died because of him."

"I see." The Chuunin nodded. "Well, not to worry about it. He won't get free, he was given a life-sentence."

The rest of the floor gave no trouble at all and soon they were down to the last floor. The Chuunin warned them once more to remember the rules and they passed the guard post into the hallways. They nodded and followed the man inside. The atmosphere here was different from the floor above, it was way more tense and dangerous. These were the biggest criminals, traitors and Missing-Nin in Konoha, so it was only natural that you needed to be on guard at all time.

Sasuke was walking behind the rest and had stayed quiet so far. He hadn't been terrible impressed with this mission and frankly it was boring. Seeing the pathetic losers imprisoned here, was not something he considered fun or time well spend. He would have preferred staying home and work on his Taijutsu or learning some new Jutsu. He lingered behind, supposedly taking the rear guard, and let the others walk on.

"Well, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke." A voice said to his left. "Fancy seeing you in a place like this." The man came into the light and Sasuke recognized him as Touji Mizuki, his former Academy teacher. "Ah yes of course, the 'no speaking to prisoner' rule. I understand, I won't expect you to say anything."

Sasuke smirked at his former teacher and was about to move on until Mizuki started speaking again.

"So how are things in the village?" Mizuki asked not really expecting a reply. "Anything exciting happen recently? No? Oh well, it was worth a shot. So still a Genin huh? That's a bit disappointing. I would have figured you'd be at least promoted to Chuunin. Guess the Uchiha clan isn't all that great after all."

"Keep your mouth shut, loser." Sasuke bristled.

"Oho, still the same temper when it comes to your family huh? Did you know I met your brother once?" Mizuki continued. "If I had to guess it was just before he murdered your entire clan." Mizuki inwardly grinned as he saw Sasuke's reaction. "Such a scary fellow he was. I could tell even then that he was one of the strongest shinobi I ever met. Such talent and potential. How's the revenge thingy going for you?"

"None of your business." Sasuke said angry.

"I see. Well, guess that's to be expected." Mizuki said. "It's not like you have the skills or power to defeat him. This village won't allow you to get the strength you need after all. They're scared you'll betray them too. So how's the village treating you? Bet you they're sucking up to those two Chuunin that just passed. I'm sure they're treated like heroes, aren't they?"

"Who cares." Sasuke said.

"I certainly don't." Mizuki laughed. "I'm just saying it's weird that a girl everyone despised until not long ago and a girl that just moved into the village get more respect than someone from an esteemed clan like yourself."

"I don't care about respect from those villagers." Sasuke said. "All I want is to kill Itachi and restart my clan. I don't care about anything else."

"Yes, I thought as much." Mizuki nodded. "But like I said, Konoha will not allow you to get the necessary power you need to accomplish that. Believe me, I tried and see what it got me."

"Perhaps it's because you're an idiot that got caught." Sasuke smirked when he saw Mizuki's eyes narrow.

"Yes, getting caught was not my intention." Mizuki said. "If Orochimaru-sama had succeeded in his attack, we wouldn't be standing here."

"Orochimaru? He escaped with his tail between his legs." Sasuke snorted. "I heard he ran for the hills once he failed to kill the Sandaime."

"Hah, you know nothing of Orochimaru-sama." Mizuki chuckled. "He's the strongest of the Sannin, has mastered thousands of Jutsu, knows more about being a shinobi than anyone else."

"An yet he had to flee." Sasuke pointed out again.

"You think you know what it means to be a shinobi but you don't." Mizuki laughed. "When faced with overwhelming opponents, better to flee and live to fight another day than to foolishly fight and die. Konoha thinks they defeated Orochimaru-sama but they're wrong. Even now he's planning his revenge, I'm sure of it."

"It's going to be without you then." Sasuke said.

"Oh don't worry about me." Mizuki answered. "I'll find a way to leave this place sooner or later and when I do, I'll kill the two bitches who're responsible for putting me here."

Suddenly a voice called out for Sasuke. It was the Chuunin that had accompanied them inside the prison.

"Uchiha, get away from the prisoner." The Chuunin said. "Do not make me repeat myself. You were warned not to speak to anyone. Do it again and I'll be writing up a report , got it."

Sasuke nodded and stepped away from the cell. When he turned around he heard Mizuki's last words and anger ran through his veins.

"Yes, that's right. Run along now little Uchiha." Mizuki said. "Go to your masters like the little obedient dog that you are."

Sasuke glared at Mizuki but didn't comment. When he reached the Chuunin and the rest he simply ignored them and continued walking like nothing had happened. Naruko and Haku watched at each other and shook their head. Sasuke was such a cold person, uncaring for anything but his own goals. They had heard some things about how he wanted to avenge his family and frankly Naruko and Haku understood that feeling very well. But unlike Sasuke they didn't let those feelings rule their lives. They focused on what they had, instead on what they had lost. It was no help when you continued living in the past, something many shinobi knew all too well.

Inside Sasuke was seething mad at what Mizuki had said. He knew that he shouldn't trust the word of a traitor but some of the things he had said had struck a nerve. It was true that he wasn't strong enough to fight Itachi but he was training hard in order to accomplish that goal. He had been training harder than ever and yet his progress didn't seem all that great. It was frustrating to see just how much the difference was between him and his sensei, not to mention him and his brother.

Speaking of his sensei, Kakashi had returned to his lazy, porn-loving self. For a while he had been very focused on Sasuke and his intentions. He had let up a bit but he still refused to teach him high level Jutsu saying that he would first need to learn the basics before moving on to other things. Sasuke didn't agree with that but there was little he could do. Besides the Uchiha clan house had more than enough Jutsu scrolls that he could use.

Still he resented Kakashi for not teaching him properly. The man was rumored to have copied over a thousand Jutsu so surely there had to be some he could teach him. It seemed as what Mizuki was saying had some truth in it. They didn't want him to grower stronger. Perhaps they really were afraid of him growing too strong? After all, the Uchiha were the best shinobi in the world.

In truth Sasuke was miles ahead of his peers when it came to being a shinobi. He had the talent and the drive to learn things no other shinobi could. He just didn't see his own progress as he kept comparing himself to those stronger than him. If you kept comparing yourself to someone of Itachi's level, it's hard to see how strong you have gotten. Compared to Itachi, you were still weak no matter how much you trained. If he would compare himself to his own age group and those he graduated with, he would see just how far ahead he really is.

'I need to get stronger.' Sasuke told himself. 'Nobody will stop me from killing Itachi.'

The rest of the night nothing happened. They patrolled the hallways for several more hours but every prisoner was asleep so everything went by in silence. Naruko and Haku talked quite a bit with the Chuunin who worked at the prison, learning more about how things worked. It was a very interesting experience but not something they would like to repeat soon. Naruko said that there was not enough action to keep her occupied for so long. Haku agreed instantly.

After debriefing with Ikeda and the Sandaime, they were relieved of duty and were given permission to go home. As it was very early in the morning, Haku and Naruko quickly returned home and went to bed. They knew by now that neither Yuugao nor Anko would care about the fact that they just finished an eight hour shift that night. They would still be expected to get up in a few hours and spend the day training or doing missions.

* * *

The next morning Naruko and Haku were up early to commence training for the day. Both of them were eager to start as they had new techniques they wanted to try out for weeks now. They had been working on those for quite some time and now they had reached completion. After the usual training from Yuugao, which consisted out of psychical training and sparring, both girls were allowed to work on their own. This had been agreed on during the early days of their training; first came team training and the individual training. This also allowed Yuugao to train together with Anko or alone.

Naruko was working on her Raiton Jutsu. She had several of those already in her arsenal but she still needed more. She loved both her Raiton and Fuuton element, as both had uncountable possibilities. Today she was trying to create a sword of Raiton Chakra. Unlike Haku she used her Tanto and simple layered Raiton Chakra upon it. She had seen Sarutobi Asuma do something similar though she went a step further. Asuma created only a small layer of Fuuton Chakra on his blade. Naruko wanted to extent her Tanto into a full size sword, increasing her reach.

She had been trying for several weeks and had slowly been making progress. She had managed to almost double the length of her Tanto with Raiton Chakra. Now the only thing left to do was master it to a level that she could create the sword in seconds, instead of having to concentrate for some time. She was pretty certain she would master it soon enough. Once she had mastered it by using Raiton Chakra, she planned on doing the same thing but with Fuuton Chakra.

She knew that with Raiton Chakra her sword would gain the effect of shocking her victim as well. That was one of the things she liked about Raiton Chakra; not only did it hurt like hell, it numbed and burnt too. It was like having a bonus with each wound inflicted. She wondered what the effect would be when she used Fuuton Chakra but she already knew that it would improve sharpness. She had seen Asuma's trench knives go through a tree and embed itself into a rock when he threw it. She could hardly wait to get started but first she needed to master her Raiton sword.

Yuugao had been very surprised when Naruko explained her idea but she admitted that it would be a fine skill to have. It would be an excellent way to catch an opponent by surprise. With Tanto you needed to get closer to your target so by being able to extend your reach by using Chakra was a useful skill to have. She had however insisted on teaching Naruko her sword style as backup fighting style. Naturally, Naruko accepted eagerly.

Naruko wasn't the only one working on a new Jutsu. Haku as well had been busy working on a new Hyouton Jutsu for her arsenal. Now that she had excellent control over her Hyouton sword, Haku moved on to another technique. It had actually been TenTen's words about how she would love to be able to create her own weapons like Haku could, that had given her the idea. Thanks to Jiraiya's training during the search for Tsunade, Haku had learned to use her Hyouton element to created several forms and shapes out of ice. So why not create her very own Kunai and Shuriken out of ice? She already had one Jutsu that created Senbon needles out of water so transforming them into Ice was not that difficult for someone with her Kekkei Genkai.

It all came down to learning how to extract water out of the air and this was where the problems started. Extracting the water particles out of the air was an advanced technique; something not many could do. In Konoha, the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju was renowned for being able to perform high level Jutsu without needing a water source to aid him. Haku had made it her goal to same day surpass the Nidaime's mastery of Suiton Jutsu.

She had succeeded at extracting the water particles out of the air to a certain degree. She was far from mastering it but it was a very good start, even the Sandaime had been very impressed when he had seen her progress. After doing the necessary handseals, which she did one-handed, she could now created about a dozen Hyouton Shuriken and Kunai. Just like her Hyouton Sword, they had the extra effect of freezing everything around the area they hit. Now she was working on increasing the amount of Shuriken and Kunai she could create with her Jutsu. Once she had a decent amount she could start working on another Jutsu she was thinking to create; she and Naruko loved to think up new Jutsu and their sisters were always curious to see what they could come up with next.

"Alright girls, enough for today." Yuugao called out several hours later. "Anko is surely waiting for lunch."

"Already?" Naruko said surprised as she hadn't seen time go by. "Now that you mention it, I'm starved so I could go for some ramen."

"You always have room for ramen." Haku teased.

"Hey, I'll have you know that ramen is the best food in the world." Naruko glared at Haku. "Though, Anko-neechan's pancakes come in close second."

"Yes, we all know how much you like ramen and pancakes." Yuugao laughed. "Now come on, I don't want to be late."

Lunch was a happy affair with the four women. Ayame and Teuchi were always glad to have them around as they always brought some good stories and excitement to the place. Ever since Naruko and Haku had become somewhat popular, their business had been going better and better as well. Many customers had been coming regularly for many months now and Teuchi was thinking of expanding his food stand so he could accommodate his increasing clientele. Once lunch break was over, Anko returned to her station and Yuugao told the girls that they would be doing a mission this afternoon. Naruko and Haku hoped that it wouldn't be some stupid or dull mission this time.

When they arrived at the Hokage Tower, they noticed that something was wrong. People were tense and nervous showing them that something big had happened. When one of the assistants noticed them, he called out for them saying that Sandaime was waiting for them. Deciding not to waste time, they went straight for his office. Barging in, they saw several people sitting in the office and saw the Sandaime looking very serious.

"Ah great, I was just about to send for you." The Sandaime said looking at them. "We have a serious situation at hand here. These gentlemen are from the Daimyo's personal guard and have brought some disturbing news."

"What happened?" Yuugao asked.

"Two days ago, Kenichi-sama was abducted after a night out of town." One of the men said. "After a city wide search, which gave nothing, the Daimyo became very concerned for his son's wellbeing. It should come to no surprise that Daimyo-sama has many enemies that wish to see him gone or removed from power."

"You think that one of his enemies took his son?" Yuugao asked surprised. "That would be quite a daring statement. To do such a thing is basically declare war on Daimyo-sama and Hi no Kuni."

"Indeed." The man said. "We were hesitant to believe that possibility as well until Daimyo-sama received a letter this morning stating that if he wants his son to live, he would resign as Daimyo of Hi no Kuni and pay over 5 million Ryo in gold as ransom."

"Who would be that stupid to dare and challenge Daimyo-sama and his army?" Naruko asked curious.

"Unfortunately, they acted in a time that Hi no Kuni is weakened." The Sandaime said. "Hi no Kuni can't afford a civil war right now, not when we just suffered an invasion. The strength of a country is determined by the strength of its Shinobi Village. While we came out of the invasion as victors and have recovered very well from the damages and the loss of lives, we still can't afford being weakened once more by a civil war. The other villages could see this as a prime opportunity to attack us while we're fighting amongst ourselves."

"The Daimyo is well aware of this." Another man said. "He refuses to go to war but he cannot allow his son and family to be harmed by his enemies. That's why he wants Konoha to free his son so he can deal with this traitor without risking the life of his son. He requests the help of Uzumaki Naruko and Haku, two kunoichi who have greatly impressed him last time he saw them."

"He wants us to rescue his son?" Naruko asked shocked. "Surely he could have asked for some Elite Jounin to make sure everything goes well?"

"He could but he's amendment that the two of you take this mission." The first man said. "He said that it was a test to see your abilities in action. If I may say so, Daimyo-sama has placed a lot of trust in you both. It's not something that happens very often."

"So who has captured Kenichi-sama?" Haku asked them. She was handed a folder from the man.

"In this folder you will find every bit of information we have on the culprit." The man said. "He's a warlord, who was banished to the far south corner of Hi no Kuni for his violent ways and constant fighting of the Daimyo's decisions. His name is Takehashi Yamata and he's feared by many of the other warlords. He has dedicated men and women working for him, though their numbers are low. He only accepts the best in his ranks."

"So our mission is to get Kenichi-sama back and then what?" Yuugao asked. "What should be done with Yamata?"

"Daimyo-sama asks that you bring Yamata before him." The man answered. "He will set an example to show what happens when you inflict harm on his family and threatens the peace in Hi no Kuni."

"Understood." Yuugao nodded. "Very well, by your leave Hokage-sama?"

"Dismissed." The Sandaime nodded to the three of them. If he was honest he was tempted to send some reinforcement with them but as the Daimyo had specifically asked for them, he could do nothing. Even if it was to help free his son, the Daimyo would not like Sarutobi to ignore his orders and requests. He hoped that everything went well and that the Daimyo's son was unharmed. If something had happened to the kid, war was most likely inevitable and that was the last thing they wanted right now.


	31. Chapter 31

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One: To the Rescue

Kenichi was not feeling so good when he woke up that morning. The last thing he remembered was chatting up this gorgeous redhead in the parlor where he went. She was a new face and he wanted her instantly. Those beautiful red locks called to him like nothing ever did before. While he could have just demanded her service he wanted to the thrill of the chase; something about this woman told him that the hunt would be nearly as satisfying as the catch. After a bit of smooth talking and throwing his name around, he had her wrapped around his little finger. Or so he thought.

He remembered little or nothing of what had happened when they went upstairs to a private room. He did remember seeing her disrobe herself but after that it was a total blank. Next time he opened his eyes he was in a dark dungeon, chained to the wall and only in his underwear. He was cold, hungry, scared and frankly outraged at what was done to him. He wouldn't take this kind of treatment from anyone and the first person to enter through that door would hear about his displeasure.

He didn't know how long he sat there as there were no windows to look outside. Only a few specks of light from the candles outside the cell doors that was visible through the little window in the door. He had yelled and screamed but nobody came or answered. He hoped they hadn't abandoned him here to die. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps approaching and he readied himself for yelling about his situation to that person. When the door opened a man and woman entered. He didn't recognize the man but the woman he knew.

"You! You're that woman for the parlor." Kenichi yelled. "What is the meaning of this? Do you have any idea who my father is?"

The man and woman just looked at him and burst out in laughter. The woman stepped closer and back-handed Kenichi in the face. The young man cried out in pain and spit out some blood. When he was about to yell again she slapped him again on the other cheek. This continued for several more slaps until her companion stopped her.

"Y-You'll p-pay for h-hurting me." Kenichi sobbed silently. Not once had he been hit in his life; nobody dared harm him in fear of who he was and what would happen if he complained to his father. So being slapped around by this woman was not something he was used to.

"You pathetic, ugly, arrogant little bastard." The woman hissed at him. "Did you really think that someone like me would fall for a man like you? Dear god, I still feel dirty for letting you touch me. You're lucky we needed you alive otherwise I would have killed you the second you put your hands on me.".

"Enough, Sachiko." The man ordered and the woman quickly stopped talking and stepped back.

Kenichi watched as the man stepped into the light and kneeled down before him. He let out a gasp of pain when the man grabbed his chin and pulled his head up.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"N-No." Kenichi truthfully said. He had never seen the man before but one thing was sure; this man terrified him.

"Guess you were too busy fooling around to take your father's lessons to heart." The man snorted. "Such a disgraceful son. He must be so disappointed in you; perhaps I'll be doing him a favor by killing you. Surely, he could raise another heir if needed be."

"P-Please don't h-hurt me." Kenichi pleaded.

"Relax, I won't kill you just yet." The man laughed. "I still have use for you. For how long depends on your father. If I were you, I'd hope he agrees to my demands."

"What d-do you w-want from me?" Kenichi asked fearfully.

"From you? Oh, that's rich." Both the man and women laughed loudly. "My dear boy, why ever do you think I want something from you? You're nothing but a spoiled, little brat who lives of his father's name and fortune. No, I have no interest in you whatsoever."

"Then w-why am I h-here?" Kenichi asked not understanding what this was all about. "What do y-you want?"

"Simply. I want your father gone." The man said menacingly. "You see, your father banished me to this remote corner of Hi no Kuni because he feared me. I was once greatly respected and feared for my skills and talents. Then you're father became Daimyo and he saw it fit to take away my title and my honor just because he disagreed with my vision for Hi no Kuni. I'm sure you heard of me; my name is Takehashi Yamata, better known as…"

"Yamata the Butcher." Kenichi said shocked.

"Oh, so you have heard of me?" Yamata said surprised. "I'm honored that the son of our mighty Daimyo knows my name. What else do you know about me? Please, I wish to hear."

"I k-know you murdered an e-entire village b-because they refused to surrender to you." Kenichi said recalling his teacher's lessons about the man in front of him. Now that he knew who had captured him, his fear had skyrocketed. Everyone knew about Yamata, the Butcher.

"Ah yes, of course they would tell you such things." Yamata laughed. "Did they also tell you that everyone in that village was collaborating with the enemy during the war? Bet you they didn't; they were traitors and thus should be punished for their crimes. I did what was necessary for the country. While your dad sat in his comfy chair, me and my men were fighting invaders. We protected our country with our very lives and for what? To be banished to the most remote region of the country because of one lousy village that was destroyed?"

"But there w-were children a-as well." Kenichi argued only to be slapped by the woman once more.

"War does not discriminate against age or gender." Yamata said coldly. "Never mind, you wouldn't understand what it feels like to fight for your country. All you know is fooling around and enjoying yourself on the back of others. What's important for you to know is that your father has five days to meet my demands or I'll send you back to him. Piece by piece starting with that what dangles between your legs."

"Please h-have mercy." Kenichi sobbed loudly. "I d-didn't do a-anything wrong."

"Stop embarrassing yourself." Yamata said to Kenichi. "You're presence is sickening." He then turned to the guards outside the cell. "Take him upstairs and put him to work. Might as well teach him some humility." Yamata and Sachiko left Kenichi behind and laughed when they heard the guards drag him behind them.

Things had quickly turned for the worse after that. The guards threw him some dirty clothes for him to wear before they pushed him into the men's quarters. They threw him a sponge and a bucket and told him to start cleaning the toilets. Kenichi gagged when he was forcibly pulled inside the small room; never before had he smelled such a thing. It was disgusting and he almost ran out again if not for his restraints and the guards at the door.

"I want this spotless by the time I come back." The guard leader growled at him. "If I find as much as one speck of dust, you'll go hungry for the rest of the day."

The guards laughed and closed the door behind them, locking him inside the room full of toilets. Kenichi threw the sponge and bucket against the wall, refusing to clean this pigsty. For about an hour he simply sat there but when one of the guards opened to door to see his progress and noticed that he hadn't started yet, he got punched several times and was told to start cleaning if he wanted to wake up the next morning.

Several hours later, Kenichi had never felt more disgusting and dirty. For someone who had never seen a dirty toilet in his entire life, this was absolute torture. He complained and yelled that he was the son of the Daimyo and that they would regret this when his father came for him. The guard didn't bother replying and just told him to shut up and keep cleaning. When the commander of the guard returned just before dinner time, Kenichi was tired and hungry from the work he had done.

"You call this cleaning?" The commander said after his inspection. "Get him back to his cell and withhold his food and water for the day."

"But I'm hungry." Kenichi complained. "And I want to take a bath."

"Well, then maybe that will motivate you to work harder tomorrow." The commander grinned. "We have some work that needs to be done around here."

"You can't treat me like this." Kenichi yelled. "I'm the son of the…." The last word wasn't spoken as the commander knocked him out with a single punch to the head.

"Put him in his cell and shorten the chains so he can't lay down." The man said to his guards. "That will make him nice and sore for tomorrow."

"Yes Sir." The men said before dragging Kenichi away.

* * *

For the next three days Kenichi was used to do all the dirty work around the place. From cleaning the toilets to harvesting rice, he was worked from morning till evening without rest and a meager bit of food. The work was bad enough but the constant degrading and bullying from the guards was much worse. Whenever he didn't work fast enough or they felt like it, the guards pushed him around and hit him. By now his face and body was one big bruise but at least he was still alive; something that Sachiko woman greatly disliked.

Each night he hoped his father would come to free him from this hell but no help came. After the second day, he swore that if he made it out of here alive, he would change. If he lived he would become the son his father had wanted. No longer would he use his father's name to get what he wanted, no longer would he treat others like dirt and belittle them. He had a lot of time to think about things as his nights were sleepless and short.

It had taken the three Kunoichi two days to reach the area where Takehashi Yamata was banished to. They had only one day left before the deadline of Yamata's demands so they had to hurry. Problem was that Yamata's home was a true stronghold. His home was actually a castle town meaning that to reach the castle you had to go through the village first.

The village was not a problem as they would have no trouble sneaking past the civilians and the lower ranked warriors. The troubles would be getting past the castle walls and through the small town inside the walls, where the higher ranked warriors and nobles lived. That part would be much harder. Yuugao had warned both Haku and Naruko that just because they were facing samurai and hired help that things wouldn't be that easy. Samurai, while not using Chakra like Shinobi, did have great skill in fighting and warfare. She explained that in Tetsu no Kuni, there were Samurai known for using Chakra in their sword style. She did say however that chance of encountering such Samurai here was very low. Still with their greater numbers, they still posed a threat.

When they finally reached the castle walls, they used the rest of the day to learn the layout of the grounds. They soon learned that the entire area inside the walls was a giant maze for those who didn't know the way. It was a tactic used in the past to slow down invaders; the passages were narrow which was also used to minimize the number of men that could run through the maze. If that wasn't enough, there were several watch towers scattered around the ground to keep surveillance. Samurai weren't only well versed in swordsmanship but also very handy with bows and arrows. Even Shinobi could get caught off guard by an arrow.

"Naruko, what did you notice?" Yuugao asked.

"I counted seven watchtowers, each with three guards inside." Naruko started. "They are positioned at each corner of the castle grounds and three inside, next to the main gates. Each tower has a full 360° view of the grounds and are build to allow the guards to fire arrow, throw rocks and pour hot oil onto the attackers."

"This place is pretty well protected." Yuugao nodded. "Haku, what have you learned?"

"The grounds are partitioned into three." Haku explained. "Like Naruko-chan said each part has a watchtower but also several guards on the ground. They patrol in groups of minimum five samurai armed with swords, bows and spears. It takes them about five to ten minutes to do a round of their designated area and they do 3 round each hour."

"Any change in shifts that occur?" Yuugao asked.

"Not in the time I observed them." Haku shook her head. "They are very well disciplined and focused. It will not be easy to pass unseen."

"Never expected it to be easy, Haku-chan." Yuugao smiled. "There's a reason why some samurai are capable of going toe to toe with shinobi. They train their entire lives, perfecting the art of swordsmanship and many of them have techniques that might rival Ninjutsu. Luckily for us, these aren't such samurai. While great in number and skill, they aren't trained to deal with shinobi."

"So what's the plan?" Naruko asked curiously.

"I noticed that on the north side there's a large storage house filled with hay." Yuugao said explaining her plan. "Setting the storage house on fire will surely distract many of them and is not very uncommon. Hay burns easily and needs only a small spark in order to start burning. While many of the samurai and guards will be busy trying to stop the fire from spreading, we'll move on another target."

"Keeping them busy." Haku nodded in understanding.

"Yes, while the first fire might be seen as an accident however the second one will alert them that something is amiss." Yuugao continued. "Therefore we need a target that will keep them busy for a while longer. What better target than the food house and armories?"

"That will keep them busy alright." Naruko grinned. "Good thing is that both targets are at a distance from the water wells so they'll have to hurry to get the necessary water to end the fires."

"While they're busy, we'll move in from the west side." Yuugao said. "We subdue the guards in the watchtower and move on to the castle by passing through the narrow passage ways. In the off chance that we encounter a guard we eliminate him and move on. Once we reached the castle we split up. I'll take down Yamata, while you to go get the idiot son."

"Won't Yamata be protected?" Naruko said concerned. "He could have stationed a lot of guards to protect himself."

"Don't worry about that." Yuugao smiled. "I'll be fine. Just focus on getting Kenichi and get out of the castle. Head to bridge in the village we passed to get here, I'll meet you two there."

"Got it." Haku and Naruko nodded.

"Alright, let's get to work." Yuugao ordered.

Naruko made several Kage Bunshin and distributed enough explosive tags to destroy a small village. She adjusted the seal so the explosion would be relative small so it wouldn't alert the guards. The tags for the first target would simply ignite a small spark and set the dry hay on fire in a matter of seconds. For the second target she used regular tags to make sure that it would blow sky high. The clones managed to place the tags without getting noticed and now all they had to do was set up the trap.

One clone remained in each target and when it was almost two AM in the morning the first clone activated the tags before dispersing. Just like expected it didn't take long for the storage house to start burning. When the first flames broke through the roof, the guards immediately sounded the alarm. In a matter of minutes half the guards had arrived and started throwing water onto the flames trying to put out the fire. It didn't work and the flames spread out to the buildings around the storage house.

Then fifteen minutes later the second clone activated the tags and one by one, the dozen or so tags exploded violently. It was loud and big enough to awaking the villagers in the village next to the castle. Of course by now the guards realized that they were under attack and so the alarm was given once more. Unfortunately for them, there was little they could do. Either they let they flames destroy the entire city and castle or they let whatever intruder there was pass and hoped the remaining guards in the castle dealt with them. Seeing the flames claim another building their choice was easily made.

The three Kunoichi jumped over the West wall and quickly disposed of the guards in the watchtower. It helped that they were distracted by the fires and that the thick smoke hindered their view. They never saw the attack coming and were dead before they knew it. Having dealt with the more immediate risk, they ran through the passage ways, making their way to the castle undisturbed. Apparently, all the guards were busy fighting the fires.

* * *

Takehashi Yamata was enjoying some very fine sake and the companionship of the very good looking courtesan, Sachiko when all of the sudden one of the guards burst through the doors. Not pleased that his good time was interrupted he asked why he was disturbed.

"Sir, pardon my intrusion but there's a fire in the storage house." The guard said out of breath. "We're already dispatched every available men to fight it."

"Blasted." Yamata cursed. It wasn't the first time this had happened thanks to the hot weather but for it to happen now was very unfortunate. If he had to go to war with the Daimyo he needed every available resource to aid in his battle. "Tell the men to hurry and secure as much as possible. Prevent the fires from spreading at all cost."

"Yes Sir." The guard said before running out of the room.

"I'm afraid our fun time is over my dear." Yamata said to his companion. "I need to overlook the damage and see what consequences this will have for us."

"I understand dear, I'll be waiting for you in my quarters." Sachiko purred when she passed Yamata. "Don't make me wait too long."

Yamata slapped her ass and told her not to undress till he was back. He wanted that pleasure himself he said. When the woman was gone he went over to his desk and took out some files. He was about to put them away again when a huge explosion knocked him right of his feet. When he got his bearings back he hurried over to the window and saw half of his weapon and food supply going up in flames.

"That bastard." Yamata cursed understanding what was going on. "He dares attack me in my own home? He'll pay for this."

"Sir, we're under attack." Another guard yelled rushing into the room.

"I know you idiot." Yamata snarled. "Get everyone in position. I want every available men to sweep the castle for intruders. Kill anyone who might look suspicious."

"Yes Sir." The guard nodded.

"You won't get away with this." Yamata cursed loudly. "You'll regret messing with me. I'll tear you limb from limb, I swear on my ancestors' name."

* * *

Naruko, Haku and Yuugao had no trouble getting inside the castle thanks to the many open windows. Once inside they split up and went their own way. Yuugao went in search of Yamata, whom she was sure was in his room or study giving orders on how to deal with this attack. Naruko and Haku descended to the dungeons where Kenichi was held. It took no genius to understand that Yamata would keep him there, to show him who was boss around here. The first floor showed no resistance so the two girls continued downwards. Naruko was about to turned the corner when Haku pulled her back. Naruko watched as several arrows passed her by mere inches.

"Wow, that was close." Naruko said shocked. "Thanks, Haku-chan."

"No worries." Haku smiled. "Now what do we do? I don't think there's another way to the dungeons."

"Yeah, they were probably waiting for us." Naruko nodded.

"Did you see how many guards there are?" Haku asked.

"Nope." Naruko shook her head. "I barely saw or heard the arrows coming. Those guys are good."

"Let me check." Haku said doing some handseals and a small mirror appeared in the air. Using the small mirror Haku tried to look behind the corner and counted the number of guards. "Six of them."

"Damn, can't you use your 'Jigen no Kagami' to get rid of them?" Naruko asked.

"No, I need to have a direct line of sight to created the mirrors." Haku said. "I can't create a mirror in a place I can't see."

"Seeing as they have the advantage, they won't come to us either." Naruko cursed. "We need something to deal with those stupid arrows. How humiliating is this; two kunoichi stopped by a few arrows."

"What about some shields?" Haku said getting an idea. "I could make a slab of ice, making a shield that stops the arrows. If we use some Kage Bunshin we can give them the shields and let them deal with the guards."

"Brilliant idea." Naruko said excited.

Haku grinned and soon had five shields ready for the clones Naruko made. The shields were big enough to hide the entire clone and would surely withstand a few arrows. This would give the clones enough time to reach the guards and dispose of them. With a loud cry of war, the clones charged the guards who were shocked at seeing their attackers coming at them. They fired arrow upon arrow but none of them managed to pierce the shields Haku had made. Fair to say, the guards didn't stand a chance against the clones. When Haku and Naruko rounded the corner Haku turned to Naruko.

"What's with the loud war cry?" She asked amused.

"I don't know." Naruko shrugged. "Seemed like the kind of thing to do."

"You're weird. You know that right?" Haku sighed comically.

"I know but you still love me." Naruko laughed softly. "Admit it, you like my weirdness."

"I guess I do." Haku smiled back. "Now, how about we get that idiot son and get out of here. I had enough of dungeons and samurai for a while."

Naruko nodded and swiped the keys from one of the defeated samurai's pockets. Luckily there weren't that many cells and only one seemed to be used at the moment. Therefore it didn't take them very long to find the Daimyo's son. As they opened the door they saw him huddled in a corner, shaking like a leaf from cold and fear.

"P-Please d-don't kill me." He begged. "I'll g-give you a-anything you w-want just don't kill me."

"Kenichi-sama, we're shinobi from Konoha." Haku said stepping closer. "We're not going to harm you, we're here to get out back home."

"K-Konoha shinobi?" Kenichi said looking up. "H-Hey, I r-recognize you f-from a few m-months ago. A-are you really here to help me?"

"Of course we are." Naruko said irritated. "Now get up and be quiet."

Kenichi frowned but kept his mouth shut as he didn't want to risk pissing off those who came to rescue him. He slowly got up and tugged at the chains that bound him to the wall. He looked at Naruko who just groaned in frustration. She took out one of her Tanto and focused some Raiton Chakra into the blade. With one swing she cut straight through the chains. Kenichi gulped as he vowed to keep his mouth shut and do as he was told.

"Alright. Let's move on." Haku said quickly. "We don't want to linger longer than necessary."

"One moment Haku-chan." Naruko said to her while frowning at Kenichi who was standing there in his underwear. "Put some clothes on will you. I'm not taking you with us in your underwear."

"But they took my clothes." Kenichi protested.

"Then take some of those dead samurai further down the hall." Naruko said to him. "Hurry up, we don't have all day."

Kenichi hurried along the hallway and saw the bodies of the six guards laying on the floor. He was disgusted by all the blood and the corpses but he managed to recover some clothes that hadn't been bled on from them. At least now he was somewhat presentable to others. He returned to the two shinobi and waited.

Naruko and Haku motioned him to stay between them and be quiet. He followed Naruko and tried to be a silent as a mouse. That wasn't easy as he wasn't trained to move like this and more than once he made a noise but it seemed they were alone. While following Naruko he became vaguely aware just how tired and hungry he was. At first the adrenaline of being freed had helped him move but now it was getting harder and harder to keep up.

"Keep up." Naruko ordered.

"I can't; I'm hungry and tired." Kenichi said. "I haven't eaten or slept in days."

"Look, once we're out of the castle I'll do something about those things but right now we need you to man up." Naruko said understanding what the guy was going through. Not being fed properly and being forced to do manual labor without rest would be hard on everyone but it was especially hard on those who weren't used to being hungry or tired from working. "Just hang on."

Kenichi nodded and forced himself to move and follow the two kunoichi as best he could. It seemed like fate was on their side as they encountered no other guards on the way. When Naruko looked through one of the windows she understood why. The fire had spread out to the houses and buildings around the targets and everyone was aiding in stopping the fires. Thus, no one was thinking about the castle for the moment. The three of them managed to sneak out of the castle wall without any trouble and Naruko summoned a Toad to carry Kenichi to the rendezvous point.

"A frog?" Kenichi said not really liking that he had to ride on the summon.

"Oi, I'm a Toad." The toad said to Kenichi's shock. "Can't you see the difference."

"It spoke!" Kenichi said before fainting. Apparently seeing a Toad the size of a horse that could speak together with the hungry and tiredness was enough to make him faint.

"Well, that makes things easier." Naruko said happily before throwing Kenichi on the Toad's back. "Ah peace and quiet."

"You really don't like him do you?" Haku giggled.

"Hell no, he's a jerk." Naruko exclaimed. "If that wasn't enough he tried to hurt you so he's on my list."

"List?" Haku inquired.

"My 'piss me off again and you'll lose your nuts' list." Naruko said seriously.

Haku laughed loudly at seeing Naruko so seriously and even Naruko joined in after a few seconds. Together they quickly reached the bridge where they waited for their Sensei. Like expected they arrived first but they were pretty sure that Yuugao would be close behind.

* * *

Yuugao had no trouble finding where Yamata was hiding. All she had to do was find the room with the most guards in front of it. She had managed to get close enough and opted to use a Genjutsu to deal with the guards. While she wasn't a Genjutsu expert she was no slouch either and trapping a few unsuspecting guards was no trouble at all. They were dead before they knew what happened. She transformed into one of the guards and went inside the room.

"What is it?" Yamata said angry. "I told you keep watch at the door for any suspicious activities."

Yamata watched in horror as once the guard was close enough, he killed the remaining guards with ease. Seven guards had fallen before he had manage to take five steps backwards. Yuugao let the Henge drop and smirked as Yamata paled.

"D-Don't come any closer." Yamata threatened. "Take one more step and you'll regret it."

"Takehashi Yamata, you are hereby arrested for treason against the Daimyo and Hi no Kuni." Yuugao simply said. "Please come quietly and I promise you won't get hurt. Do not make this harder on yourself."

"Screw you." Yamata said grabbing one of the swords of his guard. "You think I'll just quit like that. Well think again, I'm not giving up on this. Hi no Kuni will be mine and nothing will stop me."

"As you wish." Yuugao nodded before she moved too fast for him to react. She kicked the sword out of his hands and punched him square in the gut, following up with a vicious blow to his jaw and temple. Yamata dropped like a bag of potatoes and Yuugao snorted at the man. How one so weak could think to defeat a Jounin was beyond her. Hadn't he learned not to fight a shinobi?

She quickly put some restraining seals on Yamata's body so that he would stay unconscious until they were removed. Just when she was about to leave the doors burst open and a woman came running in.

"Yamata-sama, why haven't you come to bed yet?" The woman asked before she noticed Yuugao and the dead guards. "You! What have you done to him?"

"That's not something you should be worried about." Yuugao said coldly. "Instead you should think about the punishment you'll receive for your part in kidnapping the Daimyo's son."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sachiko said quickly but not before Yuugao noticed the lie.

"Nice try." Yuugao smirked and she knocked the woman out. "Damn, this would be a lot easier if Naru-chan summoned me a Toad to carry them."

Quickly making a Kage Bunshin to carry to woman she hoisted Yamata over her shoulder and left the room. Just like her two pupils she didn't have any trouble escaping the castle and soon she was on her way to the bridge with her two prisoners. Half an hour later, a tired Yuugao reached the bridge.

"Finally." Naruko exclaimed. "We've been waiting for over half an hour."

"Yes well, unlike you I don't have a summon that can carry two prisoners." Yuugao said to the girl. "Everything go well on your side?"

"Went perfectly." Haku nodded. "Had a run in with a few arrows but nothing major."

"Idiot son fainted when he saw a Toad that could speak." Naruko grinned. "Pretty convenient as he was starting to piss me off. What's with the woman?"

"I think she's the one who seduced Kenichi in the parlor that night." Yuugao explained. "Since she's involved, I took her with me."

"Cool." Naruko simply said. "So better get going?"

"Yeah, but let me catch my breath a bit." Yuugao nodded. "Besides, it will be hours before they will be able to control the flames. By the time they noticed that their leader is gone, we'll be out of reach."

It took the party of three Kunoichi two days to get to the Daimyo's palace with both Kenichi and his kidnappers. Along the way Kenichi had awoken and finally got some decent food to eat. Once he had eaten he thanked all of them for saving him and even apologized to both Naruko and Haku for how he treated them all those months ago. Both girls said that it was in the past but that they wouldn't forget what he had tried to do.

It shocked both girls however that the arrogant behavior that Kenichi showed before had all but vanished. He had still his moments where he thought himself better than others but it was a far cry from what it used to be. When they asked about it, he said that while being captive he had to endure terrible torture and it had changed him. Naruko snorted at how he considered working like a normal person to be torture but if it helped him with his attitude than so much the better. Hopefully the changes would stick even when he was back to his former life.


	32. Chapter 32

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone,

It's been a while but here it is; the next chapter of the story. Sorry for all the delay. Things happened and I took a small break from this story. I'm back now and chapters should come more regularly from now on. I've been trying to post the chapter for several days now but it seems the website is still experiencing some problems. Hope it works this time.

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two: Kyuubi's Chakra

While Naruko and Haku were busy on their rescue mission, the Sandaime Hokage was about ready to explode. Earlier that day news had come from Jiraiya that informed that how Iwa and Kumo were still fearing Konoha's victory over Suna and Oto. No matter what they tried it seemed that the two other villages were unwilling to believe the goodwill messages Konoha send.

Sarutobi had gone so far as to personally invite both villages to send representatives to check their claims. It was a gamble to let in foreign shinobi but he deemed it necessary and worthwhile if by doing this, a war could be prevented. He understood why the other villages were cautious and frankly he would be the same if the situation was inversed. The difference was that he wouldn't ignore the signs but he wouldn't overreact either.

Now a meeting had been called for the Hokage, his advisors and the most powerful shinobi of the village to attend. Jounin like Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Sarutobi Asuma to name a few were all present. Others were Jiraiya, Tsunade and Danzo. The meeting had been going well until some of the more bloodthirsty shinobi started riling up the others. Danzo was the prime instigator for this group.

'I underestimated the hate some of our shinobi still carry in their hearts.' Sarutobi thought sadly. It was not surprising that there were bad feelings about Iwa and Kumo amongst some of the shinobi. After all, many family members and friends had been lost during the war. What they failed to see however was that if war broke out again, more family and friends would suffer.

"Silence." Sarutobi shouted. "This is a meeting of shinobi. Not a gathering of a bunch of old women gossiping around. If you have something to say, raise your hand and wait until you are permitted to speak. Do not make me tell you again." Instantly the room went silent. It didn't happen often but when Sarutobi Hiruzen lost his patience it was ugly. Tsunade and Jiraiya smirked at seeing the others shake in their sandals. They had witnessed angry Sarutobi many times before during their Genin days so they were used to it. "Now Jiraiya, if you would please repeat what you said before."

"Of course." Jiraiya said. "Like I said, both Iwa and Kumo are very curious about what happened six months ago. I'm pretty sure that by now, both villages have a good idea of what went on here. However, both Iwa and Kumo are not just curious about how we defeated both Suna and Oto but also to how we have been doing since the war."

"How do you mean?" One of the Jounin asked.

"Well, they have been researching the most known Konoha shinobi." Jiraiya explained. "I don't mean people like Tsunade or myself but rather the current and future generations. I think it's to compare their own forces to ours."

"What have you learned from your spies?" Sarutobi asked his student.

"Not much, neither village is going to start a war, that's for sure." Jiraiya said. "Both villages understand that war is not the ideal solution but that doesn't mean they aren't preparing for it. It's just that they are taking measure in case of war, like we are doing. They're focusing on getting their numbers and skills back up but that's true for everyone, even us."

"I see. Thank you Jiraiya." Sarutobi said nodding.

"If I may, I have a question for Tsunade." Homura, one of the advisors said. "I've heard some rumors about you starting some classes to train Medic-Nins. Is that correct?"

"It's true but that was only because some of the medics you had were woefully incompetent." Tsunade scowled. "Seriously, who teaches those kids once they leave the academy?"

"But others have joined yes?" Homura asked once more.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded. "Some kunoichi have shown interest in become Medics. After declining several times, I had no choice but to accept them in my classes. Some of them have turned out to be quite talented in the field."

"Excellent news Tsunade." Sarutobi smiled. "I remember you arguing that there should be a Medic program for shinobi during the war. At the time we didn't have the time nor the resources to start this but if you're willing maybe now we can give it a try."

"I would like that." Tsunade said surprised. For years she had been dreaming to start a program to teach Medical Ninjutsu to those who wanted to learn but every time her ideas were shot down. "Don't expect to have a whole army of Medic Nin soon though. It takes months if not years of training to become a good Medic Nin."

"That's fine Tsunade." Homura said. "We're not in a hurry as of yet. Better to start now and take our time then to wait and rush things later."

"Jounin-Sensei, what's the status on your Genins?" Koharu asked.

"I believe I speak for my fellow Jounin-Sensei as well when I say that our students have been progressing at a fabulous rate." Asuma answered. "The invasion showed them what the shinobi world is like and forced them to grow up a little. Shikamaru became Chuunin six months ago and has shown that he can lead a team on several occasions already. Ino and Chouji are catching up as well."

"I agree with Asuma." Kakashi said. "While my team is currently down one member, both Sasuke and Sakura have been showing visible signs of improvement. Sakura has even shown interest in joining Tsunade-sama's Medic-Nin program."

"Shino, Kiba and Hinata have made excellent progress as well." Kurenai said to everyone. "The three of them are learning more advanced techniques from their family and have first class teamwork."

"Excellent news everyone." The Sandaime said impressed. "Iruka, what are you feelings about the next batch of academy students that are to graduate?"

"Sir, until a few months ago they would have been a normal graduating class." Iruka explained. "There are several very talented students who will become Genin without a problem. However, as you will recall I asked both Uzumaki Naruko and Haku to speak to my class several months ago."

"Yes I quite remember that afternoon." The Hokage chuckled as he remember how impressed the students were to talk to him.

"Well, after that one afternoon, the dynamics in the class changed completely." Iruka smiled. "Many of the students, both boys and girls, took on a role model from amongst the people they talked to."

"Dear lord, I hope not to many took Kakashi as role model." Asuma groaned looking at Kakashi. "Imaging an entire group of Genin coming two hours late every time."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Kakashi deadpanned making several people snicker while Gai yelled out about Kakashi's coolness.

"Anyway, this year's class is highly motivated and hard working." Iruka concluded.

"Excellent work, Iruka." The Sandaime said. "I see that having you teach at the Academy is one of the best decisions I made in recent years."

"Thank you sir." Iruka said blushing at the praise.

"Very well, let's conclude our meeting for now." The Sandaime said. "As we discussed in the previous meeting, we'll continue with the plan to prepare for the future. Keep preparing food and weapon rations and store them safely out of sight. Intelligence will keep on planning for strategies by using the current info received from Jiraiya. Tsunade, please continue teaching your Medic program to those who are interested. Jounin-Sensei, push your students to the next level but keep them in the dark concerning the current problems."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Everyone said before leaving.

* * *

When Naruko, Haku and Yuugao returned to Konoha after dropping off Kenichi and Yamata at the Daimyo's estate they were welcomed by the Sandaime in his office. The Daimyo had already sent a message telling how impressed he was with the three of them. The Sandaime was glad everything turned out well with this mission. Rescuing the Daimyo's son had a positive influence on the man and had earned the village a lot of favors from the man.

"Ah welcome back." The Sandaime said greeting them. "I trust everything went well?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, we succeeded in rescuing Kenichi-sama and apprehending Takehashi Yamata." Yuugao said giving her report.

"Excellent. I already received word from the Daimyo how impressed he was by all of you." The Sandaime smiled. "The three of you have done Konoha and yourself proud. I believe that this will further increase good relationship with the Daimyo and his family."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." The three in question said.

"Now, that this is over you three can go and relax." The Sandaime said. "You've earned a day off after such a mission. Be here at 10 am day after tomorrow to receive a new mission."

"Thanks Ji-chan." Naruko said before grabbing Haku's hand and dragging her out of the office. Yuugao left a bit more composed and thanked the man for his kindness. She quickly ran after both her charges and followed them to the hot springs. They had earned to pamper themselves a bit after all. Quickly making a Kage Bunshin to alert Anko of their return so she could join them.

* * *

Several days later Naruko, Haku and Yuugao were hopping through the trees towards the destination of the new mission. It promised to be a though mission as they were asked to investigate a group of human traffickers inside Hi no Kuni. This group had been getting more and more aggressive lately and several villages had requested to the Daimyo and Konoha to deal with them.

The group was in fact a joining of several small time gangs, united under one leader. They were nothing more than thugs but they had a large number of men available. Just how much was unknown however and that's why Yuugao and her team had been ordered to gain Intel. If possible they were ordered to deal with the group and free the prisoners but if not, they were just to gather information so the necessary steps could be taken to dispose of them.

Naruko and Haku were eager to get rid of the gangs that caused so much suffering to innocent people. They knew all too well what happened to the girls and women who were abducted by these kinds of criminals. They were either forced into prostitution, sold as slaves to dirty men or just used as toys before being killed once they were no longer of interests. It disgusted both of them that there were people who treated others like that. The sad part was that these groups got away with it for so long and only recently authorities got wind of this. That didn't mean that people didn't report their loved ones missing until now but more that the authorities didn't act until the relative of someone important had disappeared. Nobody cared about the simple people on the street it seemed or at least not in the bigger cities.

After several hours they reached their destination. It wasn't all that hard to find them; after all you can't hide such a large group without leaving traces behind. Yuugao had said though that their tracks were hidden well enough to make normal people lose them but not well enough to fool shinobi. This could mean several things; or they had experience hiding, or they had someone with some shinobi skills in their ranks. Yuugao warned Naruko and Haku about this and told them to be careful. Both girls nodded as they had enough experience by now to know that even the slightest change in the plan could turn everything into chaos.

When getting closer to the camp site, the girls' blood began to boil in rage. There were at least a dozen cages filled with girls and women from all ages. From their viewpoint, the three Konoha Kunoichi saw that there were even small children, both boys and girls, as young as what seemed to be five to six years old. Most of the prisoners were scared out of their minds and the women had trouble keeping the children under control. Naruko watched as one of the guards hit a child when it didn't stop crying. She knew that one was going to die by her hand if she had any say in the matter.

What made them even angrier was that there were men and women walking in front of the cages, inspecting the prisoners. These were either merchants or rich folk in need for some servants, pimps who were looking for new working girls or just perverts wanting a new toy.

They watched as the men and women laughed and joked while 'shopping' for new servants. It's was obvious that these people had no pity or mercy for the poor children and women in the cages. At their requests prisoners were presented before them for closer inspection. The men took advantage of copping a few feels here and there and one woman was even stripped naked in front of everybody. The poor woman cried and tried to cover herself only to receive a slap in the face because of it.

While this was going on, Naruko's anger was growing by the minute. Seeing this reminded her of what had happened when she was ten years old. It were these kind of actions that angered her most of all; how people could treat other like this she would never understand. She watched as the naked woman was dragged to a nearby tent while kicking and screaming. When the man followed her with a look of pure lust on his face, she knew what was going to happen. Deep within her something snapped.

Yuugao and Haku knew all too well how Naruko hated these kinds of practices. Yuugao thought that perhaps it was a mistake to take the mission but she and the Sandaime thought that Naruko had dealt with what had happened all those years ago. Suddenly she heard Haku gasped in surprise and she turned to see what happened. When she turned her head, she saw it immediately. Naruko's eyes had turned red and had narrow slits in the middle; not only that but red chakra started bubbling around her.

'Oh no, this can't be happening.' She thought in panic. 'The Sandaime and Jiraiya-sama warned me that she might tap into the Kyuubi's chakra one day but they figured it would be years from now.'

Haku and Yuugao watched as the red chakra surrounded Naruko's entire body and triggered some other reactions as well. Naruko's nails grew slightly longer and her canines grew as well. Her whisker marks grew darker and more refined and her hair started waving around. It was visible to Haku and Yuugao that Naruko was trying to restrain herself and hold back but both of them saw that it was a losing battle. The killing intent that she was emitting was staggering and they were shocked that no one in the camp had felt it yet.

"Naruko-chan, calm down." Yuugao said to her pupil and adopted sister.

It didn't work and both women covered their ears as Naruko let out a deafening scream of anger before she disappeared from beside them so fast neither Yuugao or Haku could stop her.

"Yuugao-neechan, what's happening?" Haku asked shocked.

"It seems Naruko-chan tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra." Yuugao explained. "It's something that was bound to happen sooner or later but for it to happen now is not good."

"What do you mean?" Haku said fearfully.

"We don't know how Naruko will react." Yuugao sighed. "Will she be able to distinguish friends from foes, innocents from the guilty? Also, we can't stop her by force, there's just the two of us."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Haku said shocked.

"I don't think we have anything to fear." Yuugao said looking at how Naruko had reached the camp and turned everything into chaos. "We take care of the women and children while she deals with those bastards. Most of them have fainted from the killing intent even if it wasn't aimed at them. Also we kill those that managed to escape her; we can't have rumors of someone using red chakra running around."

The people in the camp clamped their ears in pain as a loud scream sounded through the place. Then all of the sudden a terrible feeling descended upon them and many of them fainted or were rooted on the ground in fear. A red blur passed several guards that were standing there and moved on to the man that was trying to enter the tent with the woman. He didn't get the time to scream as a clawed hand pierced his chest killing him instantly. He was then flung through the camp only to impact against a tree, falling in a boneless heap.

Some of those present who had their bodies working, started to flee but Naruko would have none of it. The red chakra that surrounded her formed a single tail that seemed to respond to her will. The tail shot out and grabbed one of the men before throwing him several meters high, killing him when he hit the ground. When she saw others trying to run, she trust out her arms and out of the chakra, two giant hands appeared and picked up a men and woman, who had been 'shopping' for some new slaves. They screamed in pain as the chakra burned through their clothes, burning them alive. When she was sure they were dead she dropped them.

By now everyone was screaming in fear and tried to get away. Naruko blurred through the camp killing each and every one of them. Luckily enough, she had the presence of mind to leave the prisoners and children alone. Almost none of those who hadn't fainted dared to look what was going on.

Yuugao and Haku watched, the pain in their heart so great that both of them were crying at the sight of their sister and lover, as Naruko disposed of the criminals. They didn't pity the men and women who died as they deserved nothing less than death but the sight of Naruko losing control was very hard on both of them. They knew that Naruko would be devastated once she regained control.

"Haku-chan, be ready to deal with a very depressed and sad Naruko." Yuugao warned her. "This is going to be a huge emotional blow for her."

"I know Yuugao-neechan." Haku sniffled. "I won't let her get down because of this."

Ten minutes later Naruko let out one last roar before the red chakra retreated from around her. Her eyes turned back to their usual shape and color, her claws and canines disappeared as well. When the red chakra had vanished Naruko crashed into the ground unconscious. Haku sped towards her and gently cradled Naruko in her arms while Yuugao took care of releasing the prisoners from their cages.

* * *

Naruko woke up several hours later in the hospital. At first she was very disoriented and she felt tired and weak but most of all she was confused as she didn't remember what had happened to her to warrant a stay in the hospital. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the last thing she could remember. She remembered going on a mission with her team and finding a camp full of slaves and their handlers but nothing more until something clicked. When she remembered losing control, she started crying.

"I'm a monster." She sobbed. She now clearly remembered the red chakra that surrounded her and gave her such strength but also filled her with hatred. A hatred so big that everything else vanished in comparison. She was disgusted with herself and knew that Haku and Yuugao would want nothing to do with her after this. Panicking she quickly put on some clothes and fled through the window. If she had stayed just a few seconds longer, she would have seen Haku, Anko and Yuugao hurry into the room. When they noticed the empty room, they knew Naruko had fled.

"Shit, where is she?" Anko cursed.

"She must have woken up and think we now hate her or something." Yuugao said worried. "Haku-chan, where would she go in such a state?"

"Only one place comes to mind." Haku said already jumping out the window. "The Hokage-monument."

"Right, you go to her." Anko said. "Yuu-chan and I will gather the rest. She'll need to see that we still love her, no matter what."

"Got it." Haku nodded and she sped towards the Hokage-monument.

Naruko was sitting at the edge of her father's head. It had always been here where she found the most peace, even before she knew that the Yondaime was her father. The sight of Konoha below always managed to calm her down and helped her think but right now her mind was in such turmoil that nothing helped. She was afraid of what she had done, of what it meant for her to use the Kyuubi's chakra and most of all, of losing he family. She knew that she wouldn't be able to continue if Haku and her sister hated her.

"Naruko-chan?" she heard a voice call out. She knew that voice and knew that her girlfriend was standing behind her.

"Did you come to break up with me?" Naruko asked sobbing.

"What? No, of course not." Haku said immediately. "Why do you think such a thing?"

"Because I'm a monster." Naruko said still crying her eyes out. "I'm sure you're disgusted by me now."

"Don't you dare say that." Haku yelled shocking Naruko as she almost never yelled. "You're not a monster. You never were and you never will be a monster. You're Uzumaki Naruko, kunoichi of Konoha, sister of Uzuki Yuugao and Mitarashi Anko, adopted granddaughter of Sarutobi Hiruzen and so much more but most importantly you're my girlfriend and the person I love the most in the entire world."

"But I used the Kyuubi's chakra." Naruko said. "I killed all those people."

"And they deserved to die." Haku said taking Naruko in her arms. "They were bad people, Naru-chan. Don't feel bad for ridding the world of such scum. I certainly don't and neither do those children and women that you saved."

"So you don't hate me?" Naruko said with a glimpse of hope in her voice.

"Of course not, silly." Haku kissed her gently. "I love you and nothing will change that."

"R-Really?" Naruko asked once more.

"Really." Haku nodded kissing her girlfriend once more just to reassure her.

"Do you think the others will hate me?" Naruko asked her.

"Of course we don't hate you." Several voices came from behind her. Naruko turned around and saw everyone she loved standing there. Yuugao and Anko had gathered all of them. The Sandaime, Jiraiya and Tsunade, Shizune, Ayame and her father, Iruka, all of the Jounin Sensei and some other Chuunin she had worked with over the past few months and that she had become friends with.

"You're all here." Naruko said surprised.

"Come here you." Yuugao and Anko said hugging the girl. "Don't you ever think that again. You're our little sister and we love you. Don't ever assume that we don't."

"Thank you." Naruko said over and over with tears running down her cheeks.

"Everyone's here to show you that nothing changed." The Sandaime said. "We all love you, Naruko-chan. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Ji-chan, I'm sorry." Naruko said running into the man's arms.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." The Sandaime said hugging his granddaughter. "We'll talk about what happened tomorrow okay? Just know that you did nothing wrong. Jiraiya and I will explain everything tomorrow."

"Okay." Naruko nodded wiping her eyes. "Thanks, Ji-chan."

The rest of those present each told her that she didn't have to worry about anything and that they didn't think bad of her. Naruko had cried a few more times but by the end of the evening she felt much better about the entire thing. She didn't let go of Haku throughout the evening however and if she did it was only to hug or be hugged by someone else.

When they returned home, Yuugao had to carry Naruko as the poor girl was exhausted both physically and mentally. They tucked her into bed and they even stayed in the room with her for the night. Haku held Naruko in a tight embrace and swore to herself that she would never let go of the girl in her arms. No matter what happened, she would always be there for Naruko. Unknown to her, Yuugao and Anko remade the same promise as well.

* * *

The next day Naruko, Haku, Yuugao, Anko, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the Sandaime were all sitting in the Hokage's office. The Sandaime had ordered Jiraiya to seal of the room, making it impossible to enter or to listen in on the conversations taking place. Everyone felt nervous about this and the Sandaime assured them that it was absolutely necessary but nothing that they would talk about would be bad.

"Okay, first of all I'd like to impress on you the seriousness of what we're about to discuss." The Sandaime said. "As with everything about the Kyuubi and your parentage, all of this is an S-ranked secret. So no talking about it on the street or anywhere else unless you're absolutely sure nobody can hear you, is that understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Everyone nodded.

"Very well." The Sandaime nodded. "Naruko, the night of your birth holds many secrets and some of them will need to remain that way for the time being. I'm not doing this to hurt you but because it's vital that the information remains secret for now. I promise you that once I deem you ready, or the situation calls for it, I will tell you everything. Is that acceptable?"

"I guess so." Naruko nodded hesitantly. She wanted to know everything but she trusted her Ji-chan to tell the truth when she needed to know it. "I trust you."

"Thank you." Hiruzen smiled. "Your parents, together with my wife and I, had long been planning the best way to bring you into the world. Your birth meant many things and one of those things was that you were the child of two of the strongest shinobi Konoha had ever seen. I'm sure you realize that not many people were aware of when exactly your mother was due to give birth to you. This was done by us to fool those who would want to harm you."

"Out of the few people who were aware of your mother's pregnancy, only a select few knew when you were to be born." Jiraiya said. "I was one of them as I was your father's sensei and personal friend. Another was Kakashi, as he was your father's student in return. Other than that almost nobody knew about you."

"When your mother went into labor, several complications arose." The Sandaime said solemnly. "The biggest was the sudden appearance of the Kyuubi, right smack in the middle of the village. When I say sudden appearance, I mean that one second it wasn't there and the next it was. How it got there, we still don't know but we have suspicions."

"Didn't you say that only the Shodaime and Uchiha Madara could control the Kyuubi?" Naruko said remembering the conversation they had on their way to the Daimyo's place several months ago.

"Indeed I did." Sarutobi nodded. "And this has major consequences later on. Still for now, let's focus on what happened the night you were born. Your father was busy tending to you and your mother so I and everyone in the village held of the Kyuubi for a while. What exactly happened with your mum and my wife, I don't know. We found their bodies later in the aftermath." Even now he still missed his wife and mourned her death daily.

"Biwako-sama was a great woman." Tsunade said. "She taught me so much about being a Medic-Nin."

"She could also make sensei quiver in his sandals when she was angry at him." Jiraiya said recalling some memories.

"I would have loved to meet her." Naruko said sadly.

"She would have loved you too, Naruko-chan." The Sandaime smiled. "When your father arrived, he actually transported the Kyuubi and himself out of the village."

"How did he do that?" Haku asked curiously.

"Ah, that would be by the 'Hiraishin no Jutsu'." Jiraiya explained. "The Hiraishin is a Time/Space Ninjutsu that allows the user to teleport themselves to wherever they want provided they placed a marker in that place. Your dad was a genius with this jutsu and it made him know as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' during the war. He was the first shinobi ever to get a 'flee on sight' order."

"Waw, do you think I can learn that jutsu?" Naruko asked impressed.

"I'm afraid you still have a long way to go before you can even think about using that particular jutsu." The Sandaime smiled at Naruko's eagerness. "But I have confidence that one day, you'll be able to use it just like he did."

"You bet." Naruko grinned a bit.

"So when I saw Minato take the Kyuubi away, I followed him in order to assist him." The Sandaime continued. "However, he had put up a barrier around himself and the Kyuubi so I was unable to help him. I had no choice but to watch as he used the Shiki Fuujin to seal half of the Kyuubi's Chakra into himself. He then used the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki and the Shishou Fuuin to seal the remaining half into you."

"Wait, dad only sealed half of the Kyuubi's chakra?" Naruko asked surprised. "Why?"

"We don't know for certain why he did that." Jiraiya said taking over. "I've wrecked my brain about it and the only explanation is that sealing Kyuubi with full power would be disadvantageous."

"How do you mean?" Yuugao said speaking for the first time since the meeting started.

"Something spooked Minato that night." Jiraiya said. "I wasn't there so I can't be certain but Minato wasn't the kind of guy to do anything without a reason. He knew something but never got to tell us what, so he did the next best thing. He ensured his only child would be strong enough to deal with whatever he knew was coming."

"I don't get it." Naruko said. "How would sealing half of Kyuubi's chakra into me, make me stronger? I mean, sure I heal faster and have more chakra thanks to it but what else is there?"

"Minato's seal is something that baffles me even today." Jiraiya smiled. "He made it so that one day, you'll be able to control the Kyuubi's chakra and use it as you like. Every Jinchuuriki has some powers that are attributed to its Bijuu. Gaara's control over sand for instance was largely thanks to the Ichibi. Other stories of Jinchuuriki each tell of such powers."

"So by using the Kyuubi's chakra, I would gain some strange power?" Naruko asked not really sure how she felt about that.

"We don't know." The Sandaime said smoothly.

"So if I understand right, Naruko is able to use the Kyuubi's chakra thanks to Minato's seal?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya.

"Yes, the seal allows a tiny bit of Kyuubi's chakra to mingle with Naruko's own chakra." Jiraiya explained further. "Now that you tapped into that chakra once, it will be easier to access it."

"I don't know if I like that." Naruko sighed. "It felt horrible and vile."

"I don't doubt that Naruko-chan." The Sandaime said understanding her point. "Nobody is asking you to use that chakra for now. We just want you to know that one day, you'll might need it to safe those you love. Remember Akatsuki?"

"I do." Naruko nodded. "They're looking for the Bijuu."

"Indeed and while they haven't started going after the Jinchuuriki just yet, it's only a matter of time." Jiraiya sighed frustrated. "I don't know if I should be impressed or frustrated but I can't find any information beyond what we already know. It's like they vanished from the planet all of the sudden."

"Still that give us time to prepare." Anko interjected. "You girls had better be ready because play time is over. We'll train you until you drop and then some more." Everyone except Naruko and Haku laughed as both girls gulped a bit.

"Well said, Anko." Sarutobi smiled. "You and Haku will be in the thick of all of this so we need you two to be ready. That's why Yuugao and myself have decided that you two need a new sensei."

"What?" both Haku and Naruko yelled surprised. "Yuugao-neechan, don't you want to be our sensei anymore?"

"Girls, you two have been the most wonderful students I could ever wish for." Yuugao said grabbing both of them in a hug. "You two have surpassed my wildest expectations and made me so very proud to be your sensei."

"Then why?" Naruko asked not understanding.

"Because I have nothing left to teach you." Yuugao smiled. "I know you don't agree but it's true. Naruko-chan, you have mastered every jutsu I could teach you, you excel at Raiton and Fuuton Jutsu's and have excellent Taijutsu skills. Haku-chan, you have taken my swordstyle to a whole new level, mastering it in no time. Your Kekkei Genkai only makes it so much stronger and your Hyouton Jutsu are amazing. What you girls need now is someone who can help you even further along the path of being the best Kunoichi Konoha has ever seen."

Naruko and Haku nodded sadly and hugged their sister and sensei close. The other watched with big smiles as they saw just how much love the team had for each other.

"You'll always be the best sensei we ever had." Naruko said. "Thank you for teaching us."

"Hey, just because I'm not going to be your Jounin-sensei anymore doesn't mean Anko and I won't work you into the ground." Yuugao said smiling. "Like Anko-chan said, you two better be ready."

"Always." Both girls nodded.

"So who is our new sensei?" Haku asked.

"You'll meet him this afternoon." Yuugao smiled. "Just know that he has my full trust and that I know that he'll be a great sensei and will teach you both very well."

"So what are you going to do now?" Naruko wanted to know. "You're not going back to ANBU, are you?"

"No, I'm thinking about taking a team of the academy students that are graduating in a few weeks." Yuugao said smiling. "I've taking a liking to molding the future generation of shinobi."

"They will have the best sensei ever." Both Haku and Naruko said.

"I agree; any student would be happy to have you as their teacher." The Sandaime agreed.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Yuugao said blushing at the praise.

"Turning back to our former topic, what else happened that night?" Tsunade asked.

"After the sealing, the barrier around Minato collapsed and I hurried over." The Sandaime continued his story. "Unfortunately, he had already left this world and I couldn't do anything to help him. I ordered ANBU to search the place but they came up empty. I then grabbed the little girl and returned to the village."

"I don't get it." Anko spoke up. "If Minato-sama sealed the Kyuubi into Naruko where nobody could see it, how did the village learn of this?"

"Ah, that's where the human need for explanations and gossip came into play." The Sandaime sighed. "People needed to be reassured that they were once again safe from harm and to avoid panic, we needed to give them an explanation. We tried to come up with a plausible story but already rumors had started going around. Those who had any knowledge about Jinchuuriki immediately figured out what happened when I arrived with a baby girl with a seal on her stomach."

"And they blabbed about it to everyone?" Tsunade scowled.

"Not to everyone but to enough people to ensure that what had truly happened could be figured out." Sarutobi sighed. "I had no choice but to confirm what happened and make that knowledge an S-ranked secret. If possible I wanted to keep everything around the Kyuubi a secret but that was no longer possible. I'm sorry Naruko."

"Don't be Ji-chan." Naruko smiled. "I don't blame you for what happened. You did the best you could at the moment and you were always there for me when things got though. So thank you for being such a great grandfather." She was pulled into a hug by the old man and she eagerly returned it.

"You make an old man very happy, Naruko-chan." The Sandaime said. "I had hoped that at least the shinobi would be able to tell the difference between the jail and the prisoners but I was mistaken. Many held grudges against the Kyuubi and took it out on Naruko but luckily they never turned physical against you."

"Would have been hard as you had ANBU watch her all the time." Yuugao said.

"Still, they managed to isolated you from your peers and made your life more than a little miserable at times." The Sandaime said to Naruko. "It never got you down for very long though and it still astonishes me just much of a good person you became. Many would have given in to the loneliness and hatred."

"There were times I thought of that." Naruko admitted. "But every time I thought about the people that did acknowledge me and that help me through the hard times. Besides, without me you guys would have been so lost." She joked at the end.

"Ain't that the truth." Anko snorted. "Our lives our definitely much more interesting since you started living with us."

"You're welcome." Naruko grinned at Anko.

"Okay, let's finish this meeting and then we can all have lunch at Ichiraku's." The Sandaime said. "In short, Naruko will need to learn how to control the Kyuubi's chakra in the near future. Don't rush yourself though, none of us expect you to achieve this for quite some years. It will not be easy and you have a lot of trials ahead of you but I'm certain that you'll succeed. We'll do everything we can to help you."

Naruko reluctantly nodded her agreement with what the Sandaime told her. She knew that Akatsuki was a major danger, not only to herself but to the entire village and she vowed to do whatever it took to protect those she cared about. If that meant learning how to control the Kyuubi's chakra then so be it.


	33. Chapter 33

I don' own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three: Enter Yamato

Naruko, Haku and Yuugao had one last meal as official team before the girls would meet up with their new teacher. Even though both girls were saddened that they wouldn't be working with their sister anymore they understood why it was this way. Yuugao had been an amazing teacher and as a teacher she knew her job was done. There was no use in prolonging the inevitable and she preferred to ensure that her sisters would continue to grow at the same amazing speed.

Yuugao would miss them as a team but she knew that the relationship she had with both girls would never change. They might not longer be teacher and student but they would always be sisters. It was that bond that helped her make the decision to request the Hokage to arrange their new sensei. When she heard who the man had picked she couldn't help but be relieved; that man was one of the stronger ANBU she knew and his Kekkei Genkai would help both Haku and Naruko. She was confident that he would teach them well.

"You're not coming?" Naruko asked as she and Haku get up to meet their new sensei.

"No, my job as your official Jounin-sensei is done." Yuugao smiled at them. "He's waiting at training ground ten for you. I want you two to listen what he has to say and give him a change. You won't regret it, I promise."

"Fine but I doubt he'll be as great as you were." Naruko sighed.

"Oh now don't get all gloomy and dark on me." Yuugao laughed. "It saddens me too but this is life. When one part of our journey is over, a new part starts. I'll see you girls tonight."

"See you later Yuugao-neechan." Both girls said watching as Yuugao walked away. If they could see Yuugao's face, they would have noticed a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Yuugao hurried home so see could cry in her lover's arms.

Haku and Naruko wiped a few tears as well before they controlled themselves and headed for training ground ten. It was one of the larger grounds with lots of space and much greenery. They had been here before with Yuugao and both girls like this place. When they arrived a lone man sat on the ground in the middle of the open space. The girls approached him and before they could say something his eyes snapped open and he smiled at the girls.

"Naruko-san, Haku-san it's good to finally meet you." The man said. "I've heard many good things about you from several friends."

"Uhm, thank you…" Naruko said realizing she didn't know the man's name.

"Oh of course, let me introduce myself." The man smiled. "My name is Yamato. No last name. I'm 23 years old and am a Jounin of Konoha and until recently I was part of the ANBU force until Hokage-sama reassigned me to be your squad leader. I know I can't possibly replace Yuugao-sempai but I'll give it my best shot. My hobbies are going to the hot springs for a nice long soak and being around nature. Your turn, Naruko."

"Oh okay, My name is Uzumaki Naruko and I'm a Chuunin." Naruko said. "I'm almost fifteen and have been a kunoichi for about two years now. I specialize in Raiton and Fuuton Ninjutsu; I made several of my own with the help of Haku-chan. I can summon Toads and knew several of Jiraiya-Kyoufu's Jutsu as well. My hobbies are training, spending time with Haku-chan and our sisters and all the other people I love. My dream is to become the best Hokage ever."

"Good." Yamato nodded. "Very interesting Naruko. I'm looking forward what you can do with those Raiton and Fuuton Ninjutsu. I heard quite some stories about them. Haku, if you would."

"Hai, Yamato-sensei." Haku nodded respectfully. "My name is Haku and I'm sixteen and a Chuunin. I was born in Mizu no Kuni and lived with a man I considered my father until he was killed. I met Naru-chan several days earlier and we became friends. She found me when I was injured and helped me heal and recover. I then joined Konoha and have been a kunoichi of Konoha ever since. I specialize in Kenjutsu, which I learned from Yuugao-neechan and Suiton Ninjutsu. I also possess the Hyouton Kekkei Genkai which allows me to create Ice Jutsu. My hobbies are training, spending time with Naruko-chan and our family. My dream is to help Naru-chan become Hokage and to become the best Suiton user since the Nidaime Hokage."

"Very impressive. Both of you." Yamato smiled. "Such worthy goals as well. I see Yuugao-sempai has taught you two well and I shall do my very best to help you achieve your dreams. Well, first of all let me tell you a little more about myself and why I was selected to be you sensei. In fact I was chosen for two reasons."

"Two?" Naruko asked.

"Yes, the first one is to help Haku here with her Kekkei Genkai." Yamato said. "I possess one as well and it's very similar to the Hyouton Kekkei Genkai though it's a totally different element."

"What is you Kekkei Genkai, Yamato-sensei?" Haku asked curious. "Can you tell us?"

"I'll even show it to you." Yamato said before standing up and doing some handseals. He put his hand on the ground and said 'Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu'.

Haku and Naruko watched in amazement at how a large wooden house grew out of the ground. Their eyes just about bugged out of their head at seeing the Legendary Mokuton of the Shodaime Hokage in action. Never before had they seen the Mokuton in action. True, Orochimaru had summoned the Shodaime's spirit with the forbidden 'Edo Tensei' but neither Naruko nor Haku had seen the man in action. To say that they were surprised was a huge understatement.

"That's the Mokuton." Naruko said not believing what she saw. "But that's impossible; nobody has ever be able to use the Mokuton after the Shodaime Hokage. It's is said to have died with him."

"That's correct but I'm a special case." Yamato said before letting the wooden house disappear again. The Hokage wouldn't like one of the best training grounds to be ruined by having a large house in the middle of it. "You see, when I was a baby I was experimented on by Orochimaru of the Sannin. He took some DNA from the Shodaime and injected it into sixty new born babies. Of those sixty, I was the only one who survived. As a result of having the Shodaime's DNA mixed with my own, I'm able to use the Mokuton to a certain degree. I can't hold a candle against the Shodaime however."

"That's horrible."Naruko said. "How could someone do that to a baby."

"Orochimaru truly was a despicable man." Haku agreed. "To think he would go so far just to recreate the Mokuton."

"Let's not focus of the past as it hardly matters to me anymore." Yamato smiled. "The Mokuton is formed by using the Doton and Suiton affinities and I expect the Hyouton to be similar?"

"Yes, I can combine Suiton and Fuuton chakra and form it into Hyouton." Haku nodded.

"Excellent, I'm sure I can give you some tips and pointers in how to use your Kekkei Genkai as efficiently possible." Yamato smiled. "There are tons of exercises that will allow you to improve on your reaction time and how to combine both the Suiton and Fuuton chakra. We'll work on that together."

"What was the second reason?" Naruko asked.

"The second reason concerns you." Yamato said to Naruko. "I'm sure you heard the stories of how the Shodaime could control the Bijuu with his Mokuton?" Naruko nodded and he continued. "The Hokage suspects that my Mokuton will have a similar effect on the Kyuubi as well. The Shodaime was able to subdue a Bijuu so I should be able to help you learn to control the Kyuubi's chakra. When you lose control, I'll use my Mokuton to calm you down."

"How are you going to do that?" Naruko wanted to know.

"The Shodaime left several scroll in case one of his descendents activated the Mokuton." Yamato said. "As a special case, I was allowed to study these scrolls and I learned several Jutsu that would do that. Don't worry though, none of them will cause you harm. It won't be pleasant but it should hurt you that much."

"Let's hope so." Naruko gulped.

"Don't worry about it for now." Yamato said smiling. "Whenever we're trying to work with the Kyuubi's chakra, Jiraiya-sama will be present as will Tsunade-sama. That reminds me, she asked me to tell you that she wanted to see both of you later. For now, I'll help you learn several new Jutsu and help you with developing both your Raiton and Fuuton Jutsu. I may not be proficient in either of them but I know several people who are willing to help you in that aspect."

"So what are our plans now?" Naruko and Haku wanted to know.

"I managed to convince Hokage-sama to give us a bit of time off from missions." Yamato said. "I know both of you work extremely well together but I believe we must build up a bit of trust and friendship between the three of us. To do that, I wanted to spend a few weeks to train and get to know each other. Once we established that, we'll take on some missions again. However my main assignment is to get both of you ready for Akatsuki."

"You know about them?" Naruko asked surprised.

"Yes, Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama informed me of that particular danger." Yamato nodded. "I think they're right to fear such an group of high level shinobi. Konoha has recovered well enough from the invasion but it has shown us that our village is not as safe as we thought. That there are people out there that make Orochimaru looked like a schoolyard bully is not a comforting thought. That's why Hokage-sama has been working on a complete revision of the shinobi system."

"What's wrong with it now?" the girls asked.

"Nothing but he thinks we can improve on a lot of things." Yamato smiled. "I don't know the details but for one I know that he wants to improve on the quality of the academy. History and knowledge about the shinobi world are important but not as important as the training to become a Genin. In recent years the Academy has been focusing on the first part a bit too much. It's understandable however, as there's no war to send the students to, so they can gain strength and skills in time but with a threat like Akatsuki that's no longer the case. It's not just the two of you who need to be ready but our entire village."

"Ji-chan hates pushing people into war." Naruko said sadly. "He doesn't like sending of people to their death."

"And yet that's the Hokage's job." Yamato understood. "It's one of the less enjoyable parts of being the leader of a shinobi village. To protect everyone, you have to make decisions that you hate but you still have to make them. War is something that has existed as long as mankind. The human race is capable of amazing things but they're also capable of horrible things as well. War is without a doubt one of the worst things men is capable of. Going to war is easy but bringing peace is much harder and I fear that true peace might never exist."

"I think we should all try to do our best to bring peace." Haku said. "If everyone tries their best than maybe one day…."

"Yeah, we'll find a way won't we Haku-chan." Naruko exclaimed. " If there's a way to bring peace to the world then we'll find it. We won't give up until we found how."

"You bet." Haku nodded with a smile.

'These two are something else.' Yamato thought. 'I can tell just by looking at them that they will go far. They might just succeed at bringing peace. The will of fire burns very strong in these two.'

"Alright then, how about for the rest of the day we show a bit of our strength to each other." Yamato said. "I want to see just what the two of you are capable of."

"What do you propose?" Naruko said.

"Well, I would very much like to see some of you Raiton Jutsu." Yamata said to Naruko. "Also, Haku's Hyouton Jutsu sound very impressive and I must admit I'm very curious."

Naruko and Haku grinned at their new sensei and nodded. They were impressed with the man and he was very strong, that much was obvious. Anyone able to use the Mokuton Kekkei Genkai was bound to be. He was a bit more serious that Yuugao but that was okay. They were sure he would relax once they got to know each other better.

"Alright, I'll go first." Naruko said. "Like you know, I have a Raiton and Fuuton affinity. I know several known jutsu for both elements but I like making up my own together with Haku-chan. One of the first we came up with is one that creates strands of Raiton Chakra to cover my entire body. Like this. 'Raiton: Denkou Yoroi'."

Yamato watched as several strands of lightning chakra erupted from Naruko's body and surrounded her. He could see how effective that was and quickly made a Moku Bunshin and ordered it to try and touch Naruko's shoulder. As soon as the Bunshin came close enough to touch the Raiton chakra, it was blasted away with the entire arm destroyed.

"That's amazing." Yamato gasped. "Moku Bunshin are some of the toughest clones and it was destroyed so easily."

"I did pour out more chakra than usually." Naruko admitted.

"That's okay, I'm very impressed." Yamato said. "Anything else you're working on? Fuuton perhaps?"

"Sure, I'm trying to create a layer of Fuuton Chakra over my Tanto." Naruko said taking one of her Tanto. "I've managed to do so with Raiton Chakra so now I'm trying to do the same with Fuuton." She demonstrated by focusing her Raiton chakra into the blades making the blade longer as the chakra extended the Tanto.

Yamato took out a kunai and asked Naruko to attack him. Naruko nodded hesitantly but did as she was told. Just to be safe she reduced the length of the blade to just the usual length but let the Raiton chakra cover it. She sped forward and brought down her Tanto towards Yamato who tried to block it with the kunai. His eyes widened when he felt and saw Naruko's Tanto to go through the kunai. The tip of the kunai fell to the ground and Yamato let out a small whistle.

"Okay, that proves my theory." Yamato said. "I wondered if it would have the same effect like Asuma-san's trench knives and know I know for sure."

"I got the idea from Asuma-sensei." Naruko explained. "I heard how he uses his Fuuton chakra with his trench knives so I tried to come up with the same thing but with both Fuuton and Raiton."

"Okay Haku, your turn to show me what you can do." Yamato turned to Haku who nodded.

"Well, one of my most used jutsu is my Hyouton sword." Haku said quickly making one-handed hand seals making her sword appear.

"Yuugao-sensei and I worked very hard on my Kenjutsu skills and we found that my sword is almost unbreakable as long as I focus chakra into it."

"One-handed seals? That's amazing; I've have only seen a few people capable of that." Yamato said impressed. "It looks very sharp and I can tell it's freezing cold to touch as well."

"It is." Haku confirmed. "But thanks to my Kekkei Genkai I'm not bothered by it. However, if I wound someone with it, the area around the wound will freeze as well."

"I can see why Yuugao-sempai was so enthusiastic about teaching you Kenjutsu." Yamato said. "Can you create other shapes?"

"Actually, I can make whatever I want as long as the shape isn't too complicated." Haku nodded. "I can easily make shuriken and Kunai." She proved it by doing some hand seals again and aimed at the tree. "Hyouton Shuriken No Jutsu"

Yamato watched as several Shuriken formed in the air before they flew to the tree and embedded themselves deeply into it. His eyes widened when he saw how the tree now had several frozen area's where the shuriken had entered the tree.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Yamato-sensei." Naruko grinned. "Haku-chan, why don't you show him your Jigen no Kagami no Jutsu?"

"Jigen no Kagami?" Yamato asked.

Haku nodded and after doing the necessary seals she formed a small slap of ice in front of her. Yamato, watching the scene in front of him, didn't notice the second mirror form behind him. He gasped when Haku thrust her arm into the mirror and it disappeared. He jumped around when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and just about fainted when he saw Haku's hand and arm coming out of the second mirror.

"That's impossible." Yamato said shocked.

"Not impossible to Haku-chan." Naruko said proudly.

"It's not complete yet." Haku admitted to Yamato. "The goal is to make several mirrors at once and make them big enough so I can pass completely if necessary."

"Amazing; the kind of potential this jutsu has is unbelievable." Yamato said impressed. "What are the weak points?"

"First of all, it takes a lot of chakra and concentration to make them." Haku sighed. "Secondly, I can't create mirrors in a place that I can't see."

"Still Haku, that's one hell of a jutsu you have there." Yamato nodded understanding. "We'll work on your chakra reserves, don't worry about that. Well, I must say that I'm very impressed with both of you. I knew Yuugao-sempai said that the of two of you were in a class of your own but I never expected something like this."

"We aim to please." Naruko said grinning at the praise.

"I can tell we're going to have a great time together." Yamato laughed a bit. "Okay, let's finish here for today. I need to rethink my plans for how to train you two. We'll meet up tomorrow at nine. I know from Yuugao-sempai that you start early with running and physical training so please continue to do that on your own."

"Hai." Naruko and Haku said before they said their goodbyes. The girls left the training ground and headed towards the hospital as they remembered that Tsunade wanted to see them. Along the way they discussed their new sensei and both admitted they were looking forward to work with him. He was a bit on the serious side but they could live with that. The most important this was that he was strong and could teach them both a lot. They wondered what he had in mind for training.

* * *

When they reached the hospital they went straight to Tsunade's office as the people who worked there were well aware that they knew the Sannin very well. After knocking on the door, the entered the room only to find Tsunade talking to Lee and Gai.

"Oh sorry, Tsunade-baachan we'll wait outside." Naruko said quickly.

"No, that's okay." Tsunade said. "We're about done here and you might as well hear the good news."

"Good news? Do you mean that…" Haku said.

"Lee, you're officially healed." Tsunade said happily. "I'm very satisfied with how things turned out. You have my permission to start training again."

"You hear that Lee?" Gai almost shouted but stopped when he remembered Tsunade's warning about shouting in the hospital. "I knew you would heal back to you youthful self."

"Hai Gai-sensei." Lee said fire shining in his eyes. "I will start my training immediately by doing fifty laps around the village. After that I'll do a thousand kicks and punches to the log."

"Lee, how youthful you are." Gai said crying tears.

"Gai-Sensei!" Lee cried out hugging his sensei.

"Lee!" Gai hugged his pupil back.

"ENOUGH." Tsunade yelled. "Get out of here. Make sure not to overdo it and I don't want to see you here again, you hear me?"

"Hai Tsunade-sama." Both student and teacher bowed and raced out the door to start some ridiculous training.

"Those two will never change." Naruko laughed.

"It's good to see Lee being 'youthful' again." Haku said grinning.

"Don't you start as well." Tsunade glared at her. "Two of them is more than enough, thank you very much. I don't think I could stand another of those 'youthful' speeches anymore."

"You asked to see us?" Naruko said getting to the point.

"I did. Sit down you two." Tsunade nodded. "Do you know what this is?" She said taking out a necklace from her pocket.

"A necklace." Naruko said obviously.

"True but this one is a very special necklace." Tsunade nodded.

"What's so special about it?" Haku wanted to know.

"It's very valuable." Tsunade explained. "If you sold this, you could easily buy two mountains with the money."

"That much?" Naruko whistled. "That's a lot of money."

"It's also cursed." Tsunade continued. "A bit of history perhaps to make you understand. This necklace used to belong to my grandfather, Hashirama Senju also known as the Shodaime Hokage. It was given to me when I was very little and It's been in my possession ever since except for two short moments."

"Wow, no wonder it's valuable." Naruko nodded in understanding.

"So why is it cursed?" Haku asked.

"It's cursed because everyone who has ever worn it, has died." Tsunade said sadly. "Everyone except me. You see, I gave this necklace to my little brother when he graduated from the Academy and became a Genin. It was a rite of passage if you will. Shortly after, Nawaki was killed in the war."

"That's horrible." Naruko whispered.

"That was the first time I gave it someone I loved." Tsunade further explained. "The second time was when I gave it to my fiancé Dan. His dream was to become Hokage and I believe he could have been a great Hokage. But again the curse acted and Dan was killed in the war as well. I then vowed to never give the necklace away again as it only caused people do die."

"So why are we here?" Naruko asked her.

"I called you here because I want to give it to you." Tsunade said to Naruko. "The necklace holds some of the Shodaime's power and it will help you control the Kyuubi. I believe that if there's anyone who can break the curse on this necklace, it's you."

"But it's yours." Naruko protested. "I couldn't possibly accept something so important to you."

"Naruko-chan, I want you to have it." Tsunade said strongly. "You might need it and it's mine to give to whom I deem worthy. You and Haku have proven to me how foolish I was to live in the past; you showed what it meant to be alive again. Thanks to the both of you, I will be able to look my loved ones in the eyes when I meet them again. I owe you so much and more. Please take it as gift from a person who loves you very much."

"B-Baachan." Naruko said choking up a little. "Fine, I'll take it but if you ever want it back, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you." Tsunade said grabbing both girls in a tight hug. "Promise me you'll take good care of each other."

"We promise." Naruko and Haku said together.

"Good now one last thing." Tsunade said letting both girls go before she pinched Naruko's cheeks. "What did I tell you about calling me Baachan?"

"Aw, aw, aw." Naruko yelped in pain. "No need to pinch that hard, you know."

"Maybe know you'll remember not to call me that." Tsunade smirked.

"Fat chance, Baachan." Naruko said sticking her tongue out. "I can't call you anything else because you're our baachan after all."

"Get out of here, you scamp." Tsunade said chasing them out of her office. The girls ran out of the office with a huge smile on their faces. Tsunade sat down and allowed a smile to break through. 'Thank you Naruko-chan, Haku-chan for giving this old woman so much happiness.' She thought.

* * *

When the girls got home they noticed that the atmosphere seemed a bit down. They noticed how Yuugao seemed very down and they knew that their sister had taken the end of their team much harder than she let on. When they asked her, she admitted that while she knew that it was the right thing to do, she would miss their moments as student and sensei terribly. When they heard that, Naruko and Haku immediately said they too would miss those moments.

"You're always be the best Sensei to us, Yuugao-sensei." Naruko said honestly. "Nobody could ever replace you."

"Not even Yamato?" Yuugao sniffled.

"Not even close." Haku reassured her. "I admit that he seems a very nice guy and I'm sure we'll learn a lot from him but he's nothing compared to you."

"Thanks girls, guess I'm a bit emotional today huh?" Yuugao said hugging them close.

"No worries." Naruko said in the hug. "We'll miss you too but it's not like Haku-chan and I will leave the village for several years to train. We'll always come home to you and Anko-neechan. Besides, didn't you say that you two would still train us on the sides."

"Damn right we did." Anko grinned. "You girls better prepare yourself because if I see any slacking off, it's going to suck being you."

"We know." Haku said smiling. "We have no intention of slacking off."

"Good, then how about we order us some take-out dinner and spend the evening together?" Yuugao proposed to everyone's joy and pleasure.

"I want Dango." Anko yelled happily.

"No, Ramen." Naruko glared at her big sister.

"Naru-chan, we had ramen for lunch." Haku shook her head.

"But…. Oh fine." Naruko relented. "Just this once, though."

"Of course." Haku said giggling as she saw her girlfriend give in on not having ramen again.

* * *

Meanwhile Yamato was meeting with the Sandaime and Jiraiya to discuss what he would teach to Naruko and Haku. They had been discussing what he had learned during the afternoon and to say that Yamato was impressed was an understatement. He was shocked at what he had seen the girls do. He himself was already a Chuunin for many years at that age as he had became a Chuunin at the age of six but that was mostly because of the times he graduated in. At that time, Konoha was involved in the war and needed every able shinobi to take as many missions as possible. Also the fact that he was a bit a of a genius with the ability of using the Mokuton helped him along greatly.

"So Yamato, what do you think?" The Sandaime asked.

"Sir, I was expecting some very talented kunoichi from what Yuugao-sempai told me but they just blew me out of the water." Yamato admitted. "Haku's Kekkei Genkai has so many possibilities it's daunting. Especially her 'Jigen no Kagami' is something that could turn her into a legend."

"It's an amazing jutsu alright." The Sandaime said knowing first hand just how powerful it was. "What about Naruko?"

"I don't even know where to start." Yamato chuckled. "I've never seen anyone with so much potential as her. The things she can do with her Raiton and Fuuton Chakra is out of this world. Not to mention her stamina and Taijutsu. She'll be a powerful shinobi soon enough."

"Both of them are very dedicated to becoming strong." Jiraiya said. "They have a good head on their shoulders as well. "

"That they do." Yamato agreed. "They understand that the Shinobi world is a harsh place but they're determined to make it a better world for everyone. They even said that if there is such a thing as peace, they'll find a way to achieve it."

"What was that? Say that again." Jiraiya said shocked.

"Eh, they said that if there is such a thing as peace they'll find it and won't give up until they did." Yamato said confused not understanding what Jiraiya asked.

"What's wrong, Jiraiya?" The Sandaime wanted to know.

"Nothing's wrong." Jiraiya shook his head. "It's just that I never expected to hear those words again. They remind me of someone who said those exact same words."

"Who?" Hiruzen asked.

"A young boy I trained from Amegakure." Jiraiya said sadly. "It was during the war and I helped him and two of his friends become shinobi in order to repay them for all the suffering they went through because of our war. They were good kids and they could have made a difference."

"What happened?" the Sandaime asked recalling his student mentioning something that event long ago.

"Not long after I left them, I received word that they were killed in the fighting." Jiraiya said looking down. "I don't know what happened to them but I wasn't there to protect them. I thought they were ready but something must have happened."

"It's not your fault Jiraiya." Sarutobi said. "You can't hold their hands forever. You did your best to teach them and did what you thought was best. There's no reason to feel guilty about that."

"I guess you're right." Jiraiya nodded. "Anyway, those words inspired me to write my first book. I never thought that Naruko would say those words again." Inwardly Jiraiya brightened immensely. The old Toad Sennin that had made the prophecy to him, had told him that one day he would train the one person who would change the world. That person would either be the world's savior or destroyer depending on how he or she viewed the world. At first he thought that one of the three kids he trained from Ame was that person but that was proven wrong when the word of their deaths reached him. Secondly, he thought the child of prophecy might be Minato but he doubted it as well. Maybe, just maybe Naruko was that child. He didn't dare hope too much but something in his gut told him that he had found his destiny. He smiled at the thought and vowed to do his best to find out.

"Anyway, I'll need to revise my entire plan." Yamato said. "I planned to work with Haku on her Hyoton jutsu and improve on that. She still has a lot of progress to be made but she's still better than I expected. Those one-handed seals she uses are amazing. For Naruko, I'll enlist the help of the other Jounin Sensei if I may? Asuma-san can help her with her Fuuton element while Kakashi-sempai can help her with her Raiton element."

"Excellent suggestion." The Sandaime agreed. "Jiraiya, anything you want to add?"

"Yes, please give these scrolls to them." Jiraiya said handing Yamato several scrolls. "They contain some of my personal Jutsu and some Fuinjutsu for Naruko."

"Fuinjutsu?" Yamato asked surprised.

"She didn't tell you?" Jiraiya smiled. "Naruko has taken a liking to Fuinjutsu while we travelled to Konoha with Tsunade. Haku was learning some Medical Ninjutsu from Tsunade and Shizune but Naruko proved to be very bad at it. So I taught her some Fuinjutsu and she loved it. She's still learning the basics but she has some talent. Not surprising considering who her parents are."

"Jiraiya!" The Sandaime warned. "Yamato, ignore that last comment."

"Yes sir." Yamato nodded sensing the Sandaime was serious.

"Oops." Jiraiya said wincing at what he said. "Sorry about that."

"Jiraiya-sama, you said Haku learned some Medical Ninjutsu from Tsunade-sama?" Yamato changed the subject.

"Yep, quite talented too." The Toad Sennin said. "While not enough to become a full-pledged medic-nin, she makes a decent help on the battle field when it comes to first aid and healing."

"That's good to know." Yamato said writing that down on his sheet. "I'll take this in consideration."

"Very well." The Sandaime said satisfied. "Please teach them well."

Yamato nodded and bid his goodbye's and returned home to work on some schedule for his new students. He was a bit nervous to be a Jounin Sensei but that afternoon had reassured him a bit. He felt that he and the girls might become a good team and he vowed to do his best to make them the strongest Kunoichi in Konoha. He had a lot of plans for them and looked forward to what would happen in the future. One thing was sure however and that was this would be exciting times.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four: Tea Country

It had been three weeks since Yamato had become their new Jounin-Sensei and while the beginning was a bit awkward at time, Naruko and Haku had grown to like the silent but powerful shinobi. He could be very strict and didn't allow any goofing around during training but he was fair and taught them a lot already. He figured that both girls were mature enough to be treated as adults and thus he expected that they behaved themselves like one as well. That didn't mean they were all business like all the time but they kept the jokes until after training.

Yamato had discussed with them what kind of training he wanted them to do and had explained to them what the purpose was of each training so they understood why they needed to do so. For Haku, he advised her to first master her Suiton Ninjutsu with a source of water nearby. Haku said that she was already pretty good at using Suiton like that but Yamato told her that 'pretty good' wasn't enough. He wanted her to have perfect control of her Suiton jutsu before she moved on to trying to draw water out of the air like the Nidaime did. Also he wanted her to improve on her Fuuton element as well because the better her control over her separate elements, the better her Hyouton Jutsu would work. Focusing on one element was not preferred when it came to mastering your Kekkei Genkai. Haku had somewhat hesitantly agreed to follow his advice at first but she had to admit that after several weeks of hard training, she could feel the difference.

On Naruko's side she had complete the 'Leaf-Cutting' exercise again but now she had to stick leaves to several area's on her body. The purpose was to improve her chakra control and the control over her Fuuton element. She started out with five leaves at first but now she was up to about thirty leaves at once. Yamato wouldn't let her move on to the next exercise until she could cut fifty leaves at once. Like Haku, Naruko had been hesitant at first but she too could feel the difference already. Her Fuuton Jutsu had gotten a lot more powerful and controlled after these few weeks of training.

When it came to her Raiton element, Yamato asked the help of Hatake Kakashi as he had little or no knowledge about that element. Kakashi, who was only happy to help Naruko with her training, allowed her to train with him and Sasuke, who also had a Raiton affinity. That had been somewhat stressful until she had learned to ignore the Uchiha's whining about wanted more powerful techniques instead of improving on his skills. Naruko wisely kept all her Raiton Jutsu to herself and refused to demonstrate any of them if Sasuke was around with his Sharingan. She hadn't worked so hard to learn them, only to let him copy them from her. Kakashi was a bit unorthodox in his training but very effective; he didn't really teach them exercises to learn controlling the Raiton element but rather let them work on it by themselves unless they had questions. He gave them a few tips however on how he had mastered his element.

Other training consisted out of rigorous spars with Yamato where he didn't held anything back. He told them that while the purpose of sparring was not to injure them, he was taught that if you wanted to learn something, you needed to work hard for it. It would do them no good if he held back because then they wouldn't learn anything. That's why he wanted them to give it their hundred percent each and every spar. He told them to come at him with the intent to kill and he would do the same to them. If Naruko and Haku thought that Anko could be brutal, she was nothing compared to Yamato when he got serious. It was like he turned a button in his head and transformed into a completely different person.

In their personal time Naruko and Haku worked on their own little projects. Naruko had gotten some scrolls on Fuinjutsu from her godfather and she was learning a lot from them. She had learned to make storage seals and containment seals already and she was now working on the basic form of the Chakra-Restraining Seal that was used in Konoha's prison facility. It wasn't as powerful as that one in the prison but if performed perfectly it would even prevent a Jounin from accessing his Chakra for several hours. Problem was that the size and complexity of the seal made it unusable in battle, which was something Naruko regretted. Other than that she worked on her personal Raiton and Fuuton jutsu and she was close to mastering another Raiton Jutsu.

Haku had been given a few Medical Ninjutsu to learn from Yamato. They were the first aid Medical Ninjutsu that every ANBU needed to know and Haku had already mastered three of them. They were jutsu that helped mend bones, remove poison and stop excessive bleeding. She found that she liked learning those jutsu but she knew that she would never be a medic-nin because while having talent in the field, it wasn't nowhere near enough to be a Medic-Nin like Shizune or Tsunade. They were however crucial to know if someone on their team got hurt so Haku took that role upon her.

"Alright team, gather around." Yamato called the two girls to him.

"What's up Sensei?" Naruko asked wondering why he had interrupted their training.

"What would you girls say, if we took a mission today?" Yamato said knowing how they would react. They hadn't been complaining but he knew how much they itched to get a mission.

"We'd say 'finally'." Haku laughed.

"Well , you're in luck." Yamato smiled "We've been training very hard over the past few weeks and I believe we're ready to start taking missions. What do you think?"

"Let's do it Yamato-Sensei." Naruko said excited. "I can't wait to get started."

"Alright, let's go see what missions are in today." Yamato said.

The trip to the tower didn't take very long for the trio and soon they were waiting to be called in the Mission Distribution room as Naruko called it. While they were waiting they saw other teams leave with a new mission in hand. Several teams they recognized, amongst them Team 8 and 10 to name a few. When it was finally their turn, they had been waiting for over half an hour.

"Ah, Team Yamato. Good to see, may I presume you deemed them ready for missions? The Sandaime said puffing his pipe.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Yamato nodded. "We've been training hard and our teamwork and coordination is just about flawless. I think we're ready."

"Excellent, I have just the mission for you." The Sandaime said rummaging through some scrolls. "Tell me what do you know of the 'Todori Burning Fire Race' in Tea Country?"

"Todori Burning Fire Race?" The trio said not knowing anything about it.

"It's a race that's held every four years." The Sandaime explained. "I don't know the specifics but I believe it's a tradition to remember a certain Todori who performed a ritual to appease a fierce storm that was destroying everything in its path. Now every four years people do the same road he did but they made it into a race."

"I'm guessing there's more to the story than that?" Yamato asked.

"Indeed there's more but I'm sure the person in charge will explain that much better than I can." The Sandaime chuckled. "You are to go to the village of Degarashi and meet up with Jirocho-oyabun. He's one of the town's leaders and will have more information for you. We were expecting some messengers from him but they sent word that they were ambushed by a shinobi."

"A shinobi attacked them?" Naruko asked. "That means that the stakes are a lot higher than just continuing a tradition."

"Quite right." Sarutobi nodded. "Be careful and don't let your guard down."

"Don't worry Hokage-sama; Naruko and Haku are more than strong enough to deal with one single shinobi." Yamato praised both girls. "I will make sure nothing happens to them."

"Very well, dismissed." The Sandaime nodded.

Once outside the tower, Yamato ordered to girls to inform Yuugao and Anko that they were leaving on a mission and to pack for several days. He didn't need to tell them what they needed to bring as both of them had done enough missions to know that already. He then told them to meet up in one hour at the front gate. The girls nodded and ran home to inform their sisters and pack.

* * *

One hour later Naruko, Haku and Yamato were on their way to Cha no Kuni which lay south of Hi no Kuni. It was a fair distance to travel even for a shinobi and would take about two days to get to the border of Hi no Kuni and Cha no Kuni. In order not to lose too much time, Yamato told them that they would travel at high speed as the race was stated to start in three days. If they traveled quickly they would have some time to check out the village and get familiarized with the course of the 'Todori Burning Fire' Race.

"Have you ever been to Cha no Kuni, Yamato-Sensei?" Haku asked curiously.

"I've been close to Cha no Kuni but have never entered the country." Yamato admitted. "As an ANBU I've travelled a lot across Hi no Kuni but we're not allowed to cross borders without good reason. If an ANBU from, let's say Konoha, got caught in Iwa territory for example without previous permission, it could cause a lot of problems."

"But Haku-chan and I crossed into Wave without problems." Naruko said.

"Ah but that's different." Yamato explained. "You were hired by a citizen of that country and thus had a legitimate reason to be there. ANBU however are Konoha's black ops and aren't hired to do any missions. ANBU takes care of things that could threaten Hi no Kuni or Konoha and act in the shadows, without orders outside of those from the Hokage."

"That's why ANBU is so mysterious and secret." Haku understood.

"Indeed." Yamato said. "For instance, when dealing with Gato's criminal organization, ANBU was ordered by the Hokage to strike him. Nobody outside of those already involved of the mission knows exactly what happened to him."

"Sounds pretty cool but rather dangerous." Naruko said.

"It can be very dangerous and sometimes suicidal in some events." Yamato nodded. "However, for a shinobi to become an ANBU is highly respected as they are the Elite of the Elite. Yuugao-sempai and Kakashi-sempai are highly respected for their time in ANBU."

"Kakashi-Sensei was ANBU once?" Naruko said surprised. "How the hell did that go with him always being late?"

"Kakashi-sempai was once ANBU commander and I trained under him." Yamato said. "He was one of the best commanders in the force and never lost one member of the squad he was responsible for; he's a great man with heavy and sad past."

"Don't get me wrong Yamato-Sensei." Naruko said quickly. "I think he's amazing and didn't mean anything bad with it. I was just wondering that's all."

"I know, don't worry." Yamato smiled.

The trio travelled until nightfall and only stopped when it got too dark to travel any further. Seeing that they were in a non-populated area Yamato used his 'Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu' to create a small house where they could rest. Naruko and Haku were still awed by the Mokuton Kekkei Genkai and even after all these weeks it still amazed them.

Late in the morning the next day they finally reached the border of Hi no Kuni and passed without trouble. Weird enough there was little or no security at the border which Yamato explained was because Cha no Kuni had no Shinobi village and posed very little threat to Konoha and Hi no Kuni. Naruko argued that things could change very fast in the shinobi world and while Yamato agreed, he assured them that it had been this way for decades.

* * *

A few miles passed the border a small tea house appeared and the trio stopped to take a break and replenish their energy a bit. They had more than enough time to get to Degarashi village from here. The friendly old lady of the shop served them some drinks and food, all of which were excellent. While they were eating, they noticed a young boy sitting at the other end of the room. That wasn't so special but the weird part was that he was giving them the stink eye from the second they got inside. It was nothing they couldn't deal with however as not everyone was fond of shinobi and their ways. They just figured that the boy had some bad experience with shinobi and ignored him. Suddenly the boy got up and walked towards the exit but as he passed their table he stopped.

"Man, must be great being a shinobi of Konoha." The boy said glaring at them.

"Excuse me?" Naruko said already disliking the boy.

"You're sitting here without a care in the world when just months ago, your village was attacked." The boy answered. "Shouldn't you be training to protect your little village?"

"What's it to you?" Naruko challenged him.

"Ah, that's why I hate shinobi." The boy sighed with a dramatic look on his face. "Always retorting to violence. You know, you two are rather cute. Why don't you quit being a kunoichi and become my wives?"

"In your dreams." Naruko and Haku snorted.

"Oh well, guess not." The boy left.

"That was interesting." Yamato chuckled. "Didn't expect you two to be hit on during a mission."

"It's a curse being this cute, isn't it Haku-chan?" Naruko smiled at Haku who nodded while stifling a giggle.

"May we please have the bill?" Yamato asked politely at the elder lady, who nodded and handed him two bills.

"The young man said you were offering to pay for his meal as well." She explained when she saw him looking at the second bill.

"Why that little…." Naruko said angry before racing to the door trying to see if she could catch him. "He's gone!"

"No way, he can't be that fast." Haku said shocked. As the tea house was the only building around, they should be able to spot him running along the road.

"Well there's no helping it now." Yamato said paying both bills. "Let's just keep our eyes open for him. He's headed in our direction anyway so maybe we'll find him later."

"The nerve of some people." Naruko grumbled.

* * *

Later that day the trio arrived at their destination and quickly figured out that something was wrong. The village wasn't big but was large enough to be home to quite a number of people. The streets were lined with shops and people were busy doing their thing. What surprised them however was how expensive everything was. Naruko noticed also that people seemed to be afraid of something or someone and it reminded her of another village in Wave.

After asking for directions they found the home of Jirocho-oyabun and were quickly ushered inside to meet the man. While the house was much more spacious and showed them that the owner had some money, it wasn't anything there were expecting from a wealthy person. They followed their guide and were led inside big room, where a single man was waiting for them.

"Ah welcome, you must be the team from Konoha?" the man greeted them.

"Jirocho-oyabun, I presume?" Yamato said bowing to the man.

"Please, no need for formalities." The man smiled. "Take a seat and I'll explain why exactly I need your help."

"Thank you." Yamato said sitting down.

"You see, the 'Todori Burning Fire Race' is one of the oldest tradition of Cha no Kuni." Jirocho started his story. "It started years ago with a legend of a certain general Todori, who tried to appease a violent storm that had been going on for days. It ravaged the villages, destroyed crops and flooded our country with rain. People were getting desperate and thought it was the end of the world as they knew it. Then, out of nowhere came a man carrying two crystal jewels embodied with the sign of the Dragon and the Tiger. He set out on the sea with a small boat, through the storm and managed to bring them to shrine and offered the crystals to the Gods, begging them to stop the storm that was threatening our lands."

"What happened then?" Naruko asked curious.

"As if the Gods themselves had heard his prayers, the storm lifted and the skies cleared up." Jirocho smiled. "The man, who we only know as Todori, became a legend after that and to honor him and the Gods, every four years a race is held. The course of that race is the exact same track as Todori did during that stormy night. For a long time, this race was held in spirit of brotherhood and tradition but lately this changed."

"What changed?" Now Haku asked.

"Our country isn't powerful nor do we wish to be but there are several powerful families and clans." Jirocho sighed. "Two of the most powerful are the Wasabi clan and the Wagarashi clan. As you might have guessed I'm the head of the Wasabi-clan. Though it shames me greatly to say this, there has been a long and powerful hatred between the Wasabi and the Wagarashi clan. It went so far that people from both clans started fighting each other in the streets, getting innocent people hurt. Numerous times have we tried to settle this peacefully but the Wagarashi clan consider themselves the rulers of this village and its surroundings."

"What does this have to do with the race?" Yamato questioned.

"In order to prevent that the fighting continued the Daimyo of Cha no Kuni made a rule." Jirocho continued. "Both the Wasabi and the Wagarashi would enter one runner in the race and the winner and the clan he represents would be granted control and certain privileges of the village until the next race." Jirocho's hands tightened in fists as he continued. "Four years ago, the Wagarashi clan cheated by disabling our runner early in the race and thus became the de facto leaders of our village."

"I can guess what happened next." Naruko sighed. "They abused their power didn't they?"

"Yes." Jirocho simply said. "Under their leadership, the taxes were raised to an unacceptable level causing many of the villagers to start having trouble paying. Those who were unable to pay were forced to work for the Wagarashi clan until their debts were paid off. Of course, each year they raised the taxes and more and more people started to get in trouble. It's become so bad that prices in the village have almost tripled, even for the most simplest of things."

"That explains that." Haku nodded to Naruko hinting at how she too had seen the high prices in the shops.

"The Wagarashi clan is filled with hateful and greedy people." Jirocho said angry. "They're bleeding our village dry and causing so much misery amongst it's villagers. Now that the race is once more upon us, we've all been hoping that this year we'll be able to win. I've found an runner, I have no doubt in him but I fear that once more they will try to sabotage him or worse. The Wagarashi will not give up their power without a struggle. Please help us protect our runner and our village." Jirocho said with teary eyes. "Our people have suffered enough."

"Say no more, Jirocho-jisan." Naruko exclaimed. "We'll protect your runner, won't we?"

"Of course, that's why you hired us." Yamato said while Haku nodded.

"Thank you." Jirocho said bowing deeply. "Thank you so much."

"No need to thank us yet, Jirocho-san." Yamato helped the man up.

"Please let me introduce you to our runner." Jirocho said calling for his assistant. "Please get me Idate."

"No need, I'm already here." A voice said before the door to the garden opened and a young man kneeled in front of it. "You needed me, Oyabun?"

"Ah Idate, yes come on in." Jirocho said happy. "I want you to meet the people who will protect you during the race."

"I don't need any protection….Ah crap." The boy said once he recognized the people in the room.

"YOU!" Naruko roared. "You've got some nerve."

"Oh, you know each other?" Jirocho said surprised. "That's good, that makes things easier."

Naruko said back down not wanting to make more of a scene but she glared at Idate with murder in her eyes. She didn't know why she was so angry at the guy, after all, that bill had not been that much but the guy just rubbed her wrong. Something about him seemed familiar but she dismissed that thought.

"Oyabun, why did you call for them?" Idate said turning to his leader. "There's no need for them to be here."

"Idate, you know what happened four years ago." Jirocho said. "Iwase will never be able to walk or run again thanks to what they did to him. I don't want that to happen to you."

"I won't fail." Idate said strongly. "They won't get me."

"You should listen to Jirocho-san." Yamato said. "We learned that your messengers were attacked by a shinobi before they even got to Konoha. That means that someone is desperate to keep the Wasabi clan from winning. They wanted to prevent you from hiring Konoha shinobi so that you would be without protection. I'm sure they will not stop trying to prevent you from competing."

"Whatever, just don't get in my way." Idate said bowing to Jirocho before leaving the room.

"Naruko, Haku, stay with him. I wouldn't put is past them to attack him before the race even starts." Yamato ordered. "Follow him but stay hidden."

"Hai." Naruko and Haku said before following Idate.

Naruko and Haku followed Idate from a distance as he wondered around in the village. While following him they observed the village from close by and they could tell that many of the villagers were unhappy. Once more they noticed how expensive things were, from the simplest toy to a mere bowl of rice at the small restaurant at the side of the road. Many of the shopkeepers called out to them hoping to sell anything and earn a little money. When they passed a small time bar they noticed someone being thrown out through the door into the street. As Idate had stopped to watch, Naruko and Haku stopped as well.

"Please, not my shop." The man on the ground begged. "It's all I have, please."

"You should have thought about that before you decided not to pay your taxes." Another man laughed as he destroyed the door completely.

"I tried but I just don't earn that much." The bar keeper said trying to stop the man from destroying anything else only to be hit in the face once more. "Please, have mercy."

"Tell you what, old man." Another man came out the bar with a struggling girl in his arms. "We'll leave you alone in exchange for your lovely daughter here."

"Papa, help." The young woman cried.

"Mariko! No please, not my daughter." The man jumped up quickly and tried to reach his daughter.

"She'll make a decent earning in one of our whore houses, don't you think boys?" the second man called out to the men inside the bar who all agreed. "Don't worry old man, when she paid off your debts she'll be let free."

"Hey boss, do you think we could have some fun with her first?" one of the men said looking at the young girl.

"That's for the boss to decide." The man said holding the girl. "But I'm sure we'll be rewarded for bringing in such a beauty."

"I can't wait." The man said and tried to reach for the girl's breasts.

Next thing he knew, pain erupted from his jaw and he was send flying across the street. Everyone froze at the sight of two girls standing in front of the dozen men, both with furious looks on their faces. Before the men could move, one of the girls shot forward and grabbed the arm that was holding the bar keeper's daughter and twisted it violently, almost to the point of breaking the arm. He screamed in pain and let go of the girl, who raced back to her father.

"Who are you?" the man said struggling to say those three words.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Naruko asked the man as she twisted the arm a bit further making him howl in pain.

"Don't you know who we are?"One of the men's follower yelled outraged pulling a knife out of his robes but instantly let dropped it when he felt a freezing cold blade touch his neck.

"We don't care who you are." Haku said coldly. "We won't let you harm these people any further."

"You girls don't know who you're messing with." The man that Naruko was holding. "We're from the Wagarashi-clan and we're the leaders of the village. To go against us it suicide."

"Guys like you don't scare us." Naruko said shrugging.

"You'll pay for this." The man said. "Attack!"

As one the men in the bar rose from their seats and started taking out weapons before charging Naruko and Haku who simply disposed of the men they were holding by knocking them out. While they were outnumbered three to one, Naruko and Haku made short work of the thugs and made sure that they would think twice before attacking a shinobi again. They watched as the Wagarashi clan members ran out the village to safety.

"Are you okay, sir?" Haku asked the man.

"Yes, thank you." The man said, obviously still in shock. "How can I ever repay you?"

"There's no need for that." Naruko assured the man.

"Thank you helping us." The daughter said. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come to our rescue."

"Those bastards won't bother you again." Naruko smiled. "Why is nobody opposing these men? Surely, there's something you can do to stop them?"

"It's not that we don't want to but every time someone opposed them, they strike back hard." One of the villager said. "Remember to old man, Watanabe?" he asked the crowd. "He tried to fight them and they took his wife and daughter. They haven't been seen since; God only knows what happened to them."

"We can only hope that the Wasabi clan wins this edition of the race." Another shopkeeper said solemnly. "If only they hadn't lost last time."

"They didn't lose." A woman yelled. "Their runner was attacked during the race and couldn't run anymore. The Wagarashi clan cheated their way to the victory and they'll do it again this time."

"Don't worry, we're here to protect the runner of the Wasabi clan." Naruko said trying to calm down the crowd.

"We won't let them cheat this time." Haku smiled as the crowd seemed to cheer up immediately. "So please hold on just a little longer. Everything will be over soon."

The crowd cheered at hearing that and started thanking both girls. Naruko and Haku noticed Idate glaring at them but ignored him for the time being. They knew that they probably shouldn't have interfered or at least not this publically but they weren't about to let a young girl be condemned to a life of misery and pain like that. When Idate moved on, the girls bid their goodbye's and know ran to follow Idate, not caring that he could see them. Their cover was blown anyway.

"Idate-san, please wait." Haku called out when they caught up with him.

"Do you have to follow me around like that?" Idate said annoyed. "Just leave me be."

"Sorry, no can do." Naruko said. "Our mission is to protect you from any danger so might as well get used to us being around."

"That's why I hate shinobi." Idate said before he started walking away. "Never caring about others, only doing what you want and using violence as an answer to everything."

"This is going to be a long mission." Naruko sighed. "How are we supposed to protect someone who doesn't want to be protected."

Haku nodded in frustration but followed Naruko as she started following Idate once more. For the rest of the day, they followed him around as he wondered around the village and the port of Degarashi village. Once it became dark, he returned to the clan house and Naruko and Haku went to find Yamato to explain what happened. He was a bit angry at them for causing a public disturbance but he did say that it was the right thing to do and that he would have done the same in their situation. They discussed a bit more about how they would go about protecting Idate before getting to bed as well. Tomorrow was the day the race started so they would need to be well rested and fit to protect their client's runner.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five: Todori Burning Fire Race

The next morning everyone assembled early as the race would start at sunrise. Naruko and her team had already scouted the area but nothing seemed to be wrong and so they focused their attention to Idate and the Wasabi family. Everyone was nervous and tempers were running high already as Idate wasn't all that liked by everyone. It seemed to Naruko that only Jirocho had full confidence in Idate to win the race and bring victory to the family. Other members seemed less confident and from what Naruko learned from listening here and there, Idate always seemed to neglect his duties and either disappear and disappoint them. Only if the order came directly from Jirocho, did Idate obey and did what he was told to do.

As they marched to the starting place of the race, Naruko and Haku looked at all the villagers who followed them to the port. The village had been suffering for four long years under the rule of the Wagarashi family and they were hoping and praying that this time, the Wasabi family would be victorious and bring back the peace and quiet to their village. The people were cheering on Idate and the Wasabi clan and Jirocho promised that everything would be okay and that he had absolute faith that Idate would win.

When they got to the port town, the Wagarashi family was already waiting. They too had a large crowd behind them and cheers could be heard for their runner. When the two clans came face to face, a lot of insults and stares were exchanged but luckily no fights broke out. It would be bad for their reputation to start fighting when the Daimyo of Cha no Kuni was present.

"Welcome everyone." The announcer said to the crowd. "As per tradition, we have gathered here once more for the start of the 'Todori Burning Fire Race'. Four years ago, the Wagarashi family gained victory when the Warabi runner was forced to give up during the race." Here the men from the Wagarashi family started shouting and cheering. "Will they be able to go back to back and win this year's race as well? Or will the Warabi family raise up and turn defeat into victory? We shall know by the end of the race."

Naruko and Haku watched as both families and their runner squared their jaws and clenched their hands, eager to get started. The girls looked at the runner of the Wagarashi family but weren't very impressed. He didn't seem particularly fast for a runner and while Naruko didn't really like Idate, she had seen firsthand just how fast he was. However, this only reinforced the possibility of cheating by the Wagarashi family. So far they hadn't seen any sign of other shinobi but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"For those of you who forgot, I'll explain the course of race once more." The announcer explained. "The runner start here, at Tegarashi Port and cross the sea towards Modoroki Shrine at the north end of Nagi Island. Then it's up to the runner to get to the Todoroki Shrine, which is located at the South tip of Oozu Island. Now, runners get ready!."

Idate, who had already started doing some stretching and warming up exercises hardly listened to anything the man was saying. He was concentrating on his findings and how it would help him win the race for Jirochou-Oyabun. His opponent was still taking advice from his friends and seemed very relax and not in the least bit worried about the outcome of the race. Idate scowled as he was sure that things wouldn't remain fair for long. He had heard what had happened four years ago to Iwase. The poor man was paralyzed from the waist down after he was attacked by a group of mercenaries hired by the Wagarashi family. Unfortunately, they had no proof that could convince the Daimyo and so the Wagarashi family got away with it.

'Not this time.' Idate swore. 'I'll win this race no matter what.'

"Idate-san, don't worry about anything but the race." Haku encouraged. "We'll take care of anything that might harm you."

"I don't need your help." Idate said. "But if you're absolutely going to follow me, you better out of my way you hear me?"

"Hey, no need to be all snarky and a jerk." Naruko said angry. "We're just trying to help out."

"Like I said, I don't need nor want your help." Idate said once more. "I can take care of myself."

"EVERYONE!" The announcer yelled. "It's almost time. Runner for the Wagarashi family, Hiyokuya Fukusuke, are you ready?"

"Ready!" Fukusuke yelled.

"Runner for the Warabi Family, Morino Idate, are you ready?" The announcer asked and receiving nothing more than a nod.

When the Konoha shinobi heard Idate's full name, they looked at each other in shock.

"Morino? Isn't that Ibiki-san's name?" Haku said perplexed.

"It is." Yamato confirmed.

"Do you think they're family?" Naruko asked.

"I don't know but I think it's safe to say that it's worth investigating." Yamato mused. "I really don't know Ibiki that well so I don't know if he has any family or siblings. He's the kind of man that keeps his personal life well guarded. I doubt anyone truly knows anything about him."

"They don't look alike." Haku noticed. "Ibiki-san is totally different in behavior and character then Idate-san is."

"True but I'm sensing some story here." Naruko agreed. "It will have to wait until the race is over though."

The three shinobi watched as the gates to the port slowly opened and revealed the open sea with two boats anchored, one for each runner. Idate and Fukusuke stood ready to burst away the second the sunrise started and light appeared at the horizon. The crowd watched on in suspense and not a sound came from them. Everyone was so concentrated on the sunrise. Finally, a minute later the sun peeked from behind the horizon and gave the official start sign of the 'Todori Burning Fire Race'.

Neither Idate nor Fukusuke lost any time and shot forward, each heading towards the anchored boats. At least it seemed that way as Idate made a sharp left and ran away from the boats heading away from Tegarashi Port. The Wagarashi family laughed as they thought that the boy had already forfeited the race and started taunting the Warabi clan members.

"Calm yourself." Jirocho said to his men. "I have complete faith in Idate. He'll win; there's no doubt in my mind. We must trust and believe in him."

"What the hell is he doing?" Naruko yelled as they raced after Idate. "Is he quitting?"

"No, I don't think so." Yamato said. "It seems to me as if he has a plan. Let's catch up with him."

They didn't catch up with Idate for several more minutes and that meant that he had already covered a lot of ground. If they had to guess, they were now already almost a mile away from the starting point of the race. Whether he planned it or not, Idate was now in a very bad position to win the race as there was no doubt that his opponent had already taken to the sea.

Not far behind them, a trio watched as the Konoha shinobi closed in on Idate. They were hiding in the trees watching from afar so they wouldn't get spotted. Their headband indicated that they were from Amegakure. They wore beige jumpsuit and each of them had a breathing device on their face, making their voice come out distorted.

"Lucky." The one in the middle said. "Found him already. There's no way he can make it now."

"Double lucky." The one on the right said. "Konoha Shinobi. We can get revenge for what happened during that Chuunin Exam."

"Triple lucky." The third one grinned. "The girls are hot. The blonde one is mine."

"We'll wait and see where he's headed and then we'll attack." The leader said. "The guy might be a Jounin but those two girls pose no threat to us. Once we dealt with the Jounin, the girls are ours."

The three started laughing and vanished from their hiding spot. They and some other shinobi had been hired to ensure that the Wagarashi family won the race again so they would simply stop the runner from even leaving the island. Of course they had to make it look like an accident but that was not a problem. It wouldn't be the first time they did such a job.

One other shinobi was with Fukusuke, both as protection and to take out Idate if he should somehow escape the three. There were more shinobi but there purpose was something completely different. That didn't matter now as their job was to stall Idate or ensure he couldn't finish the race.

"Hold up." Naruko yelled as they finally reached Idate.

"What do you want now?" He sighed. "Why can't you leave me be?"

"That's not going to happen, Idate-san." Yamato said. "We were hired to protect you and that's what we're doing. So you might as well get used to having us around because we're not going anywhere until the end of the race."

"Fine." Idate snarled and sped up.

"Damn, he's fast." Naruko watched as the distance between grew again. "How does he do that?"

"He must have gotten some training because no civilian can run that fast for so long." Yamato agreed.

They followed Idate as he ran towards some unknown destination. It became clear to them that Idate has some kind of plan as he hadn't shown any sign of hesitation or confusion. He knew where he was headed and why; so they figured he had indeed come up with a plan to win the race. They noticed that Idate headed north but had no idea where exactly he was headed. The only thing they could do was follow him in order to ensure his safety.

After almost hour of non-stop running, Haku noticed that air started getting salty. Like they were approaching the sea and when she voiced her findings Yamato and Naruko agreed with her. As Idate kept running, they now understood that he definitely had some plan in mind and they quickly sped up so they could question him about it.

"Idate-san, you have some kind of plan don't you?" Yamato asked the boy in front of him.

"Tch, that's why I hate shinobi." Idate said not looking back. "All you think about is using violence to solve your problems. Do you know the difference between you guys and me?"

"No, please tell." Naruko said rolling her eyes making Haku giggle silently.

"It's this." Idate said pointing at his head. "I use my brain instead of my fists to help me solve my problems. You should try it once in a while."

"So what's your plan?" Yamato pressed on.

"I noticed it when the gates opened just before the start." Idate explained. "I saw how the clouds were moving towards the port and I remembered how some of the fishermen were saying how at this time of year, a strong wind comes from Oozu Island towards Tegarashi Port."

"A strong wind coming from Oozu Island?" Naruko said. "That would slow down everyone heading towards the Island."

"Exactly." Idate said nodding. "On top of that, I remembered that there's a strong current heading towards Nagi Island from the North. It's so strong that it would only take an hour to reach Nagi Island by boat."

"I see, that's very good thinking." Haku said impressed. "That would make up for the time you lost running here and give you more than enough time to get to the Modoroki Shrine."

"Like I said, that's the difference between us." Idate shrugged but inwardly very happy at getting one up to the Konoha shinobi.

Ten minutes later the four reached a small settlement at the shore and Idate ran straight to one of the houses. After getting the old man to open the door and explaining the situation, they readied the boat and sailed off. Like Idate had said, the current was very strong and the boat made great progress. As there was nothing else to do but steer the boat towards Nagi Island, Yamato decided to ask Idate some questions.

"Say, Idate-san, can I ask you something?" Yamato said.

"I guess." Idate shrugged.

"The announcer called you 'Morino Idate'." Yamato started. "Are you by any chance family of Morino Ibiki of Konoha?"

"How do you know that name?" Idate said jumping up. "That's my older brother but he died years ago."

"Ibiki-san dead?" Naruko snorted. "Not likely as we're quite familiar with him. Our Nee-chan works with him on a daily basis and I fought at his side during the invasion."

"He's alive?" Idate said shocked. "But, that's impossible, I…."

"What makes you think Ibiki-san was dead?" Haku asked but before Idate could answer Yamato shoved him aside causing several arrows to plant themselves into the spot where Idate had been standing.

"What the hell?" Idate yelled.

"We're under attack." Yamato said calmly. "Stay behind me and don't get in the way."

Naruko and Haku took formation and saw a boat heading their way. Taking a closer look they saw three men standing on the deck. They couldn't tell where they were from but it was obvious that these men were shinobi. Naruko and Haku deflected several more arrows fired from the trio until several large arrows with long ropes hit the side of the boat.

"We'll take care of these guys." Naruko said to Yamato.

"Okay but be careful, they seem confident." Yamato nodded wanting the girls to get some extra experience.

"Are you letting those two fight? There's thee of them." Idate shouted not believing what he heard. "They'll get killed. There's no way they can win."

"You underestimate Naruko and Haku." Yamato shook his head. "Those two are some of the strongest Chuunin in Konoha."

"They're Chuunin?" Idate said surprised.

"Just watch and see." Yamato said confident.

Naruko and Haku wasted no time as several Bunshin appeared in front of them. It didn't take a genius to know that these were simple Mizu Bunshin. The two of them knew this jutsu all too well and it didn't take them more than five seconds to dispose of the Bunshin. Naruko used one of her Tanto to cut the ropes that connected to two boats. As their boat seemed to be faster, the enemy fell slightly behind. Naruko and Haku paused to see what they planned to do next.

On the side of the three Amegakure shinobi, the leader cursed as he noticed how easily the two of them had destroyed their Mizu Bunshin. True enough, the Mizu Bunshin wasn't the strongest Bunshin but at sea they had the advantage. It seemed however that the girls had experience fighting the water clones so it would be useless to keep relying on them.

"Kagari, you're up." The leader, Oboro said.

"Hai." Kagari did some handseals before he used his Jutsu. "Suiton: Kokuyou no Jutsu."

Haku who saw him do the handseals reacted immediately with her own Jutsu. "Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu." She aimed the jet of water straight at Kagari who took the full blast of the attack, causing him to crash into the cabin of the boat. As he lost his concentration, his Jutsu never took hold and dissipated before it even had the time to form.

"You'll pay for that." Mubi, the third member screamed as he jumped towards Haku. He was still in the air when a fist impacted on his jaw. Not only that but he felt Raiton chakra run through his body, paralyzing him for a small moment and give him great pain. He didn't get the time to scream as a follow up attack from Naruko with her Raiton charged Tanto, cut him deeply across the chest. He fell into the sea never to surface again.

"Mubi!" Kagari yelled at his teammate. "You bitch, you killed him."

"Surrender or you'll join him." Haku said to him. "We don't want to kill you but if you don't surrender we won't hesitate."

"Never." Kagari and Oboro yelled charging once more at Haku and Naruko.

"Fools." Naruko sighed and she attacked. Seeing that Oboro was targeting her, she met him halfway in the air. She evaded a slash from a kunai only to grab Oboro's arm. She concentrated some Raiton Chakra into her hand and used it to numb the grabbed arm up to the shoulder. She then threw him back towards the boat making him crash onto the deck. As Oboro was still dazed from the attack, she decided to finish it. "Fuuton: Renkuudan no Jutsu." She exhaled a concentrated ball of wind at Oboro making it slam into his back, hitting him so hard the deck of the boat was destroyed beneath him. It was clear that the man wouldn't get back up after that.

Kagari aimed for Haku but was still wounded from the earlier hit he suffered at her hands. Trying to defeat her with Taijutsu, he quickly learned that Haku was way above his level as he kept missing. Haku evaded each attack with ease and decided that she didn't want to kill him. She chose to imprison him so they could interrogate him in order to learn more about his employer and if there were any other shinobi after Idate. As she had enough water around her, she would have no trouble using her Kekkei Genkai to restrain him. Ducking under another kick she swept his feet from under him before she punched him hard. Kagari took a few steps back to clear his head which gave Haku more than enough time to capture him.

"Hyoton: Eien kangoku" Kagari gasped as ice started forming at his feet and moving up to his knees and the rest of his body in mere seconds. The only part of his body that remained free of ice was the top of his chest and his head. The rest was encased in ice and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't break free.

"What the hell is this?" Kagari yelled angrily.

"That's Haku-chan's 'Eternal Prison' and like the name says, you won't get free until she releases you." Naruko beamed at Haku who smiled back. "Now, we're going to ask you some questions and you'll answer them truthfully, if you want to live."

"I'm not telling you anything, you psycho bitch." Kagari said glaring at Naruko.

"Wrong answer." Haku said and the ice started to cover the rest of Kagari's chest and was working its way up to his face. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, it doesn't matter if you kill me." Kagari smirked. "In the end, you'll lose and our employer wins." Kagari then bit on one of his teeth causing it to break. Out of the cavity a dark liquid spilled into his mouth and he started convulsing. With him being stuck in a chunk of ice, it was his head that moved but Yamato and the girls recognized the signs.

"What's happening to him?" Idate asked.

"Suicide." Yamato simply said.

Suddenly, Kagari's body began to glow and from through the ice several they could see several explosive notes burning. They reacted immediately and jumped as far away overboard as they could. Yamato took Idate with him who struggled as he didn't understand what was going on. A mere second later, the boat exploded into a thousand pieces as the blast for the dozen or so explosive tags destroyed it completely.

Yamato, Naruko and Haku had gotten out of the way without any trouble but Idate wasn't so lucky and a piece of wood of the boat hit him in the head, knocking him out. Luckily Yamato has seen it happen and grabbed Idate before he sank under water. Still, the boy was bleeding badly from the head wound. Using their chakra, the three shinobi crawled onto the water and ran straight to the shore which was much closer than they first had thought. When they reached land, Haku used her Medical skills to treat Idate's wound. It wasn't all that bad but the boy was still unconscious so they decided to head for cover and wait until he recovered.

"We better get some shelter and soon." Yamato said as he saw the thunderclouds getting closer. "It would be bad if Idate catches a cold on top of his injuries."

"There's a cave over there." Naruko pointed to the cave in the cliff. "We'll be able to get dry and take care of him there."

"Good; I want you two to take Idate and rest until he wakes up." Yamato said while they carried Idate inside the cave and stared a fire. "Meanwhile, I'll head back straight to the Todoroki Shrine. I'm worried about what that guy said."

"About we're going to lose even if we win the race?" Naruko said nodding. "It's got me worried as well."

"What are you thinking Yamato-sensei?" Haku asked.

"We already know that the Wagarashi clan wouldn't hesitate to destroy a man's life to win this race." Yamato explained. "However, there's no way they can cheat their way to victory every race. It would be suspicious if every runner of the Warabi clan encountered some injury before or during the race. But what would happen if there wasn't a Wasabi clan to compete with?"

"You think they'll attack Jirochou-oyabun and the clan?" Naruko asked. "That would be bold and highly dangerous."

"Yes but what if they found a way to divert suspicion away from them." Yamato answered. "Like for example, a team of shinobi that were hired to protect the Wasabi clan."

"They would frame us? But we're hired to protect Idate and the rest." Haku said. "Everyone in the village knows that. How would they made the charges stick?"

"You girls need to remember that not everyone loves shinobi." Yamato explained. "Many civilians from outside Konoha have a fierce distrust of shinobi because they are badly informed or have bad experience with them. It wouldn't be so difficult to frame us and have the village turn against us. Don't forget the saying 'In the world of shinobi, your enemy can become your ally depending the situation'; the same can be said for the opposite."

"That's not good." Naruko nodded in understanding. "So you'll head back to protect the Wasabi clan?"

"Yes, I'm the fastest out of the three of us." Yamato nodded. "Besides, I have no doubt that the two of you can handle anything or anyone that tries to get in your way. Nonetheless be careful and stay on guard."

"We will." Naruko and Haku said.

"Very well, I'll see you at Todoroki Shrine." Yamato said before he left the cave and disappeared in the heavy rain.

About an hour later Idate woke up, feeling a major headache and very hungry. Naruko and Haku quickly explained what had happened and where they were before giving him some food. Of course Idate wanted to leave right away but Naruko told him that running through the storm would not only be dangerous but also without meaning. She and Haku were pretty sure that Fukusuke was hiding from the storm as well. They told him to rest and gather strength for when the storm was over.

"So Idate-san, why are you living in Cha No Kuni?" Haku asked. "Weren't you born in Konoha?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Naruko wanted to know. "If you're a former shinobi yourself, why do you hate them so much?"

"Guess I could tell you." Idate shrugged as he ate. "I was born in Konoha of course and like so many I joined the Shinobi program. I joined because I looked up to my older brother Ibiki. He raised me after our dad died during a mission and our mother passed away from illness when I was just a baby. I adored him and I wanted to be just like him. Did you know that he was the youngest ever to become part of the Torture and Interrogation Squad?"

"Your brother is strong alright." Naruko nodded. "I fought at his side during the invasion. Our sister works with him in his squad and she says he's the meanest and toughest of all of them."

"That sounds like him." Idate snorted. "Anyway, I noticed how everyone seemed to admire and respect him so I wanted to become a great shinobi so that one day people would look at me that way. I became a Genin and was so proud so I told him that soon I would be respected just like him. He said just one thing to me."

"What was it?" Haku asked.

"He told me that there were more important things than being respected and admired and that I would never be truly strong until I understood that." Idate explained. "I didn't understand what he meant at that time and I didn't really pay attention. All I cared about was the next step; becoming Chuunin. After a few months my team was allowed to participate in the Chuunin exam."

"Didn't go well, huh?" Naruko said when she saw the look on his face.

"It was a disaster." Idate said. "Ibiki-ni-san was the first proctor in the exam. It was a written exam so naturally I was quite confident in my chances to succeed and pass to the next level. Until the tenth question came."

"Tenth question?" Haku and Naruko asked. "What was the question?"

"It wasn't as much as question but more of a do, or do not situation." Idate recalled. "It was a battle amongst the three members of your team. If a team took the challenge that one of them would remain a Genin for the rest of his or her life. Of course, none of us understood the meaning of this but Ibiki-ni-san refused to explain any further. He gave us a choice; either quit and take the exam again later or take the question and make one of your teammates remain a Genin for the rest of their career."

"So what did you do?" Naruko gulped. She understood the kind of pressure those Genin must have felt at that time. It was psychological warfare with young minds and no matter how much they had trained for this, no one at that age was truly ready to take such heavy decisions on the spot.

"I remained." Idate sighed. "A few quit but most of us stayed. That's when my brother told us that we had failed the test."

"I see." Haku and Naruko said quickly understanding the meaning of the test.

"I didn't get it and I still don't." Idate said punching the floor. "I was furious and confronted my brother about it. He told me that I should quit being a shinobi. He told me that I should have figured out the true meaning of the test and that if I didn't then I was not worthy to become Chuunin. I didn't take his words well and left without saying another word."

"It's understandable that you were disappointed." Haku said softly.

"It was more than that." Idate shook his head. "I was furious at myself, at my brother, at the village and everyone. But then my Sensei came to see me and told me that there was another way to become Chuunin. Like an idiot I believed and did what he told me to do."

"What? What did you do?" Naruko said narrowing her eyes.

"I stole two heirlooms from Konoha." Idate said ashamed. "My Sensei told me that if I managed to steal those I would have proven that I was ready to become a Chuunin."

"What did you steal?" Haku asked.

"The famous 'Raijin no Ken' of the Nidaime Hokage and one of his most secret scrolls." Idate admitted.

"You idiot!" Naruko said angry. "How could you be so stupid? Didn't you realize what you were doing? Stealing two possessions of such importance would have been enough to sentence you to death or life-time imprisonment."

"I know that now." Idate defended himself. "I should have realized that something was going on but I was so focused on becoming Chuunin that I didn't question him once. Only when I handed him the sword and the scroll did I learn of his true intentions; He had made contact with Amegakure and decided to turn traitor and join them. He said he was getting tired of Konoha and how they taught the shinobi arts."

"Amegakure?" Naruko said surprised. "Why not one of the bigger villages like Kumo or Iwa?"

"I don't know. He didn't explain anything and only said that now that I had stolen two of Konoha's greatest heirlooms, I had no choice but to follow him." Idate continued. "I was afraid of going to prison or worse so I figured I had no choice but to follow him. After a few days of travelling a tracking team of Konoha's ANBU found us and with them was my brother. He scolded me for doing such a stupid thing and told me to head back to Konoha and think about what I had done."

"So why didn't you return?" Haku asked.

"Before I could several teams of Ame shinobi appeared and killed everyone except my brother." Idate explained. "They captured me and brother and tortured nii-san so he would reveal everything he knew about Konoha. Also the scroll of the Nidaime Hokage was protected and only a Jounin could decipher it. Aoi-sensei tried but he didn't manage to learn its secrets so he wanted nii-san to do it."

"Ibiki-san would never betray Konoha like that so I gather something happened." Naruko grinned.

"Yeah, after torturing my brother for several hours Aoi-sensei figured that he wouldn't get nii-san to tell anything." Idate nodded. "He then threatened to kill me but my brother managed to get free. They fought for a bit before Aoi-sensei was wounded by falling on a pot of oil. Nii-san used that opportunity to cut me free and ordered me to run. He then ignited the oil so Aoi-sensei couldn't get to me."

"So you ran." Naruko said understanding.

"I was so scared and moments after I ran from the hut, it exploded." Idate said with tears in his eyes. "I thought my brother had died so I just kept on running. For days on end, I just kept running, trying to get as far away from everything. Eventually, I ended up here and met Jirocho-oyabun. He took me in after I tried to rob him and I've been with him ever since. I tried to pay him back for his kindness but I guess that's out of the question now. There's no way I can win now."

"So you're going to give up?" Naruko shouted angry. "For once in your miserable life stand up and do something about it instead of just running away again. I can't believe you would just betray the one person who believes in you."

"But…." Idate said trying to defend himself.

"No, Naruko-chan is right." Haku interrupted him. "Nothing is lost yet. You can still make it but you need to stop whining and start acting. Jirocho-oyabun and everyone in the village are waiting for you so that they could be free of the Wagarashi family. They believe in you and so do we, right Naruko-chan?"

"Sure we do, he just needs to get his head out of his ass." Naruko nodded with a snort.

"You really think I could win?" Idate said softly.

"We do." Naruko and Haku said. "Don't worry about anything else. Just focus on winning the race and leaving that Fukusuke guy in the dust. We'll take care of anyone that tries to stop you from winning."

"T-Thank you." Idate said smiling a bit. "You're right; I can't let everyone down again. I will win this race and show everyone who Morino Idate is."

"Good and it seems the rain has stopped as well so you might as well start now." Haku said pointing outside. "Are you ready?"

"Hell yeah, bring it on." Idate yelled confidently.

With renewed confidence and vigor Idate ran out of the cave and headed towards the Modoroki Shrine. He knew that Fukusuke had a head start and that it would be difficult to catch up with him but he wouldn't fail again. He would win the race and bring peace back to the little village he had come to love as his own. Nobody or nothing would stop him from reaching that finish line first. With his two new friends beside him, he couldn't fail. They would protect him and encourage him all the way.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six: Rokushou Aoi

Fukusuke, the runner for the Wagarashi family, ran towards the Modoroki Shrine on a leisurely pace as he figured that he had more than enough time. That idiot, Idate, was miles behind him and was no longer a threat to his victory. He was pretty sure that he had already been dealt with by the shinobi hired by his boss. Even if they hadn't dealt with him yet, he had such a head start thanks to the fact that Idate had simply ran away from the known path. He didn't know what had possessed Idate not to take the boat to Nagi Island but he didn't care. In the end only victory mattered and it was within his grasp.

As he noticed the large stone stairway at the base of the hill, he grinned and started climbing the stairs. It only took him fifteen minutes to reach the tops and he saw everyone waiting for him at the sides of the small pathway to the Shrine. His supporters screamed his name and waved at him happily while others scowled and looked ready to cry. With a smile on his face, Fukusuke reached the holy chamber where the two crystals were kept. Picking one, he slipped into his pouch and went to sit down next to two of his fellow clanmembers."

"Well done." One of them said. "The boss will be happy."

"There's was never a doubt who would win." Fukusuke said arrogantly.

"You better get going." The second man said. "You shouldn't waste time."

"Are you kidding me?" Fukusuke said glaring at the man. "Look at the sky, idiot. There's a storm coming and I'm not running through the rain. I'll take a rest until the sky clears up. Don't bother me any further."

"Why you little…." The second man said angry but he knew he couldn't do anything to little punk. If anything happened to would harm the runner, he would have to pay for it with his life. The boss had made that point very clear before the start of the race.

"Relax, let him take a nap and then he'll be good to go." The first man said . "Besides, if he fails then all responsibility falls to him. I don't know about you but I don't want to be held responsible for him failing because we forced him to do something he didn't want."

Two hours later Fukusuke woke up and saw that the rain had stopped so he prepared to head out. It would take an hour or two to reach the bridge that connected Nagi Island with Oozu Island so he had better get moving. With a last arrogant comment to both men, he left for the bridge.

* * *

Idate ran like some raging fire was nipping at his heels and even Naruko and Haku had trouble to keep up with him. They grinned at each other, happy that they had managed to motivate the young man into giving his all instead of just quitting halfway like he was planning to. They knew he could still win this race if he truly wanted to and to see him so concentrated on winning was a fine sight to see. They had covered a lot of ground already and they figured that the Morokoki Shrine was only a few miles away. At this pace they would be there within the hour.

Yamato had already managed to find Jirocho-oyabun and explained the situation to him. It wasn't pretty when Yamato told them how Idate had been attacked by shinobi and Jirocho had cursed the Wagarashi family to the deepest depth of hell for it. He truly cared about the boy and to hear that he was targeted by shinobi brought fear into his heart. Yamato assured him however that Naruko and Haku were more than capable enough to defend Idate.

"So you think the Wagarashi family will try and assassinate me?" Jirocho asked Yamato.

"It wouldn't be unthinkable." Yamato said. "The shinobi we captured said that we would lose even if we win the race. That could only mean that somehow the Wasabi family would either give up the victory, dismantled or in no position to rule."

"Killing me would certainly prevent the Wasabi clan from leading the village." Jirocho nodded. "I don't have an heir picked out to lead after my death. The clan would turn into chaos in order to find the next leader. While I would like to say that things are perfect in our clan, it's far from the case. There are some of us who tend to have the same views on leadership as the Wagarashi clan."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Yamato assured him. "Here, I want you to swallow this."

"A seed?" Jirocho said looking at what Yamato handed him. "What good will that do?"

"That little seed is embedded with my chakra and in the off case that they managed to capture you, I'll be able to track you down." Yamato insisted. "It's a backup plan so don't worry too much about. It will pass through your body in the next few days but by then the race is over and the Wagarashi clan won't be able to do anything about it."

"Very well." Jirocho said and swallowed the seed.

"Okay, now you need to get back to the crowd so we don't raise suspicion." Yamato said. "You won't see me but I'll be there."

"Thank you, Yamato-san." Jirocho said. "Konoha truly has some extraordinary people."

Idate let out a sigh of relief when he saw the huge stairway of the Modoroki Shrine. Wasting no time he ran up to the shrine and noticed a lot of people standing there. They cheered as he ran past them and told him that Fukusuke had left only two hours ago. That was good news as that meant that Naruko and Haku were right and Fukusuke had taken shelter from the rain just like they said he would. Running up the altar he grabbed the remaining crystal and turned back. Naruko and Haku were waiting for him down at the stairway and saw him jump down the last steps at full speed.

"Fukusuke only left two hours ago." He told them while running.

"Alright, let's catch up." Naruko cheered happily.

"Time to raise it up a notch." Idate nodded and he removed his legwarmers.

"Weights?" Haku and Naruko said surprised.

"Hey, I may not be a shinobi anymore but I do remember some of the training I did." Idate smirked. "Try to keep up will you." With that he left both girls way behind him and kept on running.

"He's good." Naruko said impressed.

"His speed may even rival Lee's." Haku nodded equally impressed.

"I doubt Idate wears as much weight as Lee but I think you're right." Naruko said. "Well, we'd better get serious too."

Naruko and Haku caught up with Idate a few miles further and grinned at the young man. He grinned back with a nod and kept running. According to his estimations they should reach the bridge that connected Nagi Island with Oozu Island just up ahead. That bridge was about the halfway point of the race so if he managed to catch up with Fukusuke there, he would be back in the race.

* * *

A bit up ahead Fukusuke was still running at an ease pace. He laughed loudly when he saw the rope bridge and slowed down a bit to catch his breath. He had been running for a long time now so he deserved a rest. He looked at the bridge and sat down looking at the river down below. He gulped a bit and hoped the bridge was in good condition as he didn't want to fall down. That would be instant death he knew. Suddenly a voice came from behind him, scaring him.

"What are you standing around for?" the voice said.

"Are you out of your mind?" Fukusuke yelled. "Don't do that. I could have fallen off the cliff, scaring me like that."

"Again, what are you standing around for?" The shinobi said.

"Relax, I got more than enough time." Fukusuke smiled. "I'm hours ahead of that idiot. I've got this race in the bag."

"Really? Are you sure?" The shinobi said. "Because I saw that idiot heading towards here at great speed. He should be here in a few minutes."

"WHAT?" Fukusuke yelled in panic. "How is that possible? Why didn't you stop him? That's what you're paid for right?"

"My men attacked them but apparently they failed." The shinobi shrugged. "Don't worry, he won't pass the bridge."

"He'd better not." Fukusuke yelled. "I need to get going. You stop him, you hear me. Do what you're paid for."

"Hey, I'm being friendly here because my client paid me to protect you." The man said grabbing Fukusuke by the throat. "Next time you talk to me like you're better than me, I'll kill you."

"S-Sorry." Fukusuke stammered in fear.

"Get going." The shinobi said tossing Fukusuke halfway onto the bridge before he disappeared into the trees.

Idate saw the bridge and swore he could see Fukusuke just passing it. Naruko and Haku had seen it too and they nodded to Idate. Only a bit more and he had caught up with his opponent. Idate was about to step on the bridge with Naruko grabbed him and jumped back. Idate was about to asked what she was doing when he noticed several senbon sticking in the ground. He knew that if Naruko hadn't pulled him back, he would have been skewered with them.

"Long time no see, Idate." A voice called out.

"That voice…it can't be." Idate said shocked. "Aoi-sensei?"

"I see you still remember me." The voice said before a man appeared in front of them.

Naruko and Haku watched the man standing in front of them. He had green hair that was held up by an Amegakure headband and a large umbrella strapped to his back. His clothes were nothing like the ones the other Amegakure shinobi had worn. This man was wearing a tight fitting suit with stripes with a elbow band and black sandals. He didn't look all that strong but Naruko and Haku noticed the look in his eyes. It was the look of a killer, someone who enjoyed bringing pain and death so they were on guard.

"W-Why are you here?" Idate asked frightened.

"Come now, surely you can guess why I attacked you." Aoi laughed. "I didn't know you were the runner when I took this job but it seems fate and lady luck are on my side. I owe you and your brother some payback."

"Payback? For what?" Idate screamed. "You tricked me into betraying Konoha and almost killed me and my brother."

"Yes, almost killed you." Aoi said angry. "I failed to get Ibiki to open the secret scroll for me and even now, I still haven't managed to open it. I had to endure ridicule and mockery for months from the shinobi in Amegakure because of it. Luckily I had the 'Raijin no Ken' to prove myself worthy of joining their ranks. I vowed to take my revenge when I got the chance so although I would have liked to kill your brother, I suppose you'll have to do."

"Sorry to disappoint you but that's not going to happen." Naruko said stepping in front of Idate with Haku at her side.

"Oh?" Aoi snorted. "I suppose you'll stop me then?"

"That's right." Haku said. "We'll also take back the things you stole from Konoha. They don't belong to you so we'll return them to the village."

"Two little girls think that they can stop me? That's hilarious." Aoi laughed uncontrollably at Haku and Naruko. "That's what I hated about Konoha, you know. Always saying stuff like that but in the end they are nothing compared to real shinobi."

"Says the man who hasn't managed to open a simple scroll after five years." Naruko said.

"Shut up, that scroll is protected by some of the strongest seals ever." Aoi said angry. "I'll get to its secrets one day, and when I do, I'll use them to destroy Konoha."

"Better shinobi then you have tried to destroy Konoha and they all failed." Haku answered. "You'll fail just as they did."

"We'll see about that." Aoi said placing a hand on his umbrella. He jumped in the air and yelled out 'Jouro Senbon'. He released his umbrella causing it to spin rapidly and making hundreds of senbon rain down on his opponents.

Haku and Naruko jumped back, protecting Idate from the rain of senbon. Both of them were quick enough to dodge the senbon and protect Idate from getting hit. When no more senbon came down, they stopped jumping around and stood their ground while no taking their eyes of Aoi.

"Not bad, you're obviously more talented than I expected." Aoi laughed. "Good, I hate a dull battle."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruko called out several clones. "Idate, go on and win the race. These clones will protect until we catch up with you."

"Not so fast." Aoi said quickly and jumped over to the bridge. "I can't let that happen." He then took out a strange object out of his pocket.

Naruko looked at it and noticed the strange shape of the item and wondered what it could be. She watched as Aoi held it and suddenly a yellow blade came out of the tip. It wasn't shaped like any other blade she had seen. Near the handle were two little points and the rest seemed to be a double-edged blade.

"That's the Raijin no Ken." Idate called out when he saw it.

"Indeed it is." Aoi said before he cut the ropes of the bridge causing it to fall down into the water deep below. "Now you won't be able to cross. Not that it mattered anyway but I can't let you slip away while I deal with those two."

"So that's the legendary sword of the Nidaime Hokage." Naruko said still looking at the sword.

"That's right, it's said that the wielder of this sword is invincible." Aoi said laughing. "With this sword I'll become the greatest shinobi ever lived. Now, I'll give you a choice; give Idate to me and I'll let you two live."

"Or?" Haku asked.

"I'll kill you." Aoi said simply.

"Since you were a Konoha shinobi once, you know that we don't abandon our friends, no matter what, so we chose option number three." Naruko said before she grabbed her two Tanto. "Defeating you."

"You will not touch Idate-san." Haku said before she created her sword of ice.

"Brave but foolish." Aoi yelled and he attacked. He ran to Naruko and used the Raijin no Ken to hit her.

Naruko easily blocked the blow with her Tanto but felt that they would break under the force of the Nidaime's sword. Luckily Haku came to her help and Aoi was forced to retreat as Haku's sword would have hurt him badly. He stopped the sword with the Raijin but to his surprise Haku's sword managed to stand up to the test. Meanwhile Naruko focused some chakra into her Tanto and attacked as well. Coming from behind Haku, she surprised Aoi with a low sweep aimed at his legs but he jumped to avoid being wounded. Naruko and Haku didn't let up however and continued to attack.

"Tch, you're so annoying." Aoi said. "Teaming up like that is so typical of Konoha losers."

Naruko and Haku didn't respond to the verbal taunting and just kept on attacking. Haku came in from the right, trying to get Aoi to block her strike so that Naruko could attack him from the left. Aoi saw the attack however and evaded both blows easily. Naruko was about to attack once more when Aoi turned to the offense. He managed to get into her guard and used the Raijin to cut her side. It was a shallow cut but the electrical discharge for the sword managed to do some damage. Naruko screamed in pain as she felt her body spasm and would have be hurt further if Haku hadn't intervened.

Haku saw her girlfriend in pain and she saw red. Nobody hurt Naruko and got away with it. She stabbed her sword into the ground and did some quick handseals. As it had rained only a few hours ago, there was plenty of water to use so she attack with a Suiton Ninjutsu.

"Suiton: Mizu no Muchi" Water rose from the ground and formed a long whip of water. Haku aimed the water at Aoi who didn't manage to dodge in time and he was flung across the place. "Naruko-chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruko said standing up. "The cut isn't all that bad. Watch out for that sword though; It send out electrical shocks when it touches you."

"Got it." Haku nodded. "We need to finish this, Idate needs to get to the other side."

"I got a plan." Naruko grinned as she did some handseals before slapping her hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." A large toad appeared in front of her and looked around surprised. He saw Naruko standing there and smiled at her.

"Yo Naruko-chan, what's up?" Gamaken asked. "Need some help?"

"Hi Gamaken, I need you to take Idate to the other side." Naruko said quickly. "Can you do that?"

"Of course, hold on kid." Gamaken said and he wrapped his tongue around the shocked Idate. "Here we go."

With one jump Gamaken easily crossed over to the other side and released Idate who fell on his butt. He stared at the giant Toad in front of him before he heard Naruko yell at him. He strained his ears to hear what she was saying.

"Idate, run." Naruko yelled loudly. "Don't worry about us; just get going and win the race. We'll follow as soon as we dealt with this guy."

"Thanks Naruko, Haku." Idate said tearfully. "I'll see you soon." With that Idate got up and started running in order to catch up with Fukusuke.

* * *

Meanwhile Aoi was raving mad. His one chance at getting revenge on the humiliation he had to suffer when he joined Amegakure was now out of his reach. He hadn't counted on those kunoichi having such a summon at their disposal. He was shocked to see that someone could summon Toads though. They were one of the strongest summons in the Elemental Lands and nobody but Jiraiya of the Sannin and the Yondaime Hokage had been known to own that contract.

"You with the blond hair, what's your name?" He asked furious.

"Uzumaki Naruko." Naruko simply said.

"Ah, I see now." Aoi nodded. "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki of Konoha. I always wondered what you looked like when I was in Konoha. I tried to find out so I could kidnap you and present you to Amegakure but I knew that that bastard of a Sandaime had you guarded by ANBU. Well, here's my chance to rectify that. I'm sure that they would be pleased with the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

"You can try." Naruko said raising her Tanto ready to attack. "Now that Idate is gone we don't have to worry about protecting him. From now on, it's serious."

"A traitor like you could never defeat us." Haku said grabbing her sword. "We'll defeat you and take back what belongs in Konoha."

"You crack me up with that Konoha and 'Will of Fire' bullshit." Aoi laughed once more. "There's only one person you should trust and rely on and that's yourself. By relying on others you get weak and get killed."

Naruko and Haku didn't bother to respond and moved into action. Naruko attacked furiously with both her Tanto, which were coated with Raiton Chakra. She struck left and right in combinations but Aoi managed to block all of her attacks with ease. Haku waited until she saw an opening and then joined the fray. Her sword clashed with Aoi's and sparks of Chakra jumped from the blades.

Naruko took advantage when Haku had Aoi occupied and attacked from Aoi's right. She saw that Aoi was trying to strike down Haku from above so when his arms came down, Naruko simply kicked them back up. This had as effect that Aoi's guard was wide open and Haku wasn't about to let such a chance go by unused. Using her sword she slashed him across the chest but the cut was very shallow. Still the skin froze at the wound due to the extreme cold of Haku's Hyouton sword, causing Aoi to curse in pain.

He was about to retaliate when a massive force swept his feet of the ground. He felt himself fall backward but before he hit the ground, he saw a shadow appear underneath him. He didn't have time to defend his back and two feet planted themselves into it with a stunning blow. He screamed in pain as he felt his spine take a hit that it wasn't prepared to withhold. The force of the kick however had elevated him a bit and when he saw Naruko appear above him, he knew that this attack was going to hurt.

Naruko clasped her hands together as she appeared above Aoi and swung them down hard. She grinned as she felt the hit connect with Aoi's chest and send him back towards the cold, hard ground. She landed next to him before jumping back to Haku, who was doing some handseals.

"Hyouton: Kousoku no Kugi" she pronounced. Just above Aoi four large spikes of ices formed. Each spike was aimed at a limb and would literally nail her opponent to the ground. It was one of the Jutsu she and Naruko had come up with and was only a small variation of the Hyouton Ice Senbon that she used. It wasn't meant to kill but rather to restrain and imprison.

Aoi barely recovered from the Taijutsu attack when he saw the Ice spikes form. Realizing what was about to happen, he retorted to one of the most simple yet effective Ninjutsu in the Elemental Lands; the Kawarimi no Jutsu. 'Shit, they're better than I thought.' Aoi grunted when he reappeared a few feet away from his previous position.

"Too bad that didn't work, huh?" Aoi said loudly.

"Don't worry about it." Naruko grinned. "We got plenty more where that came from."

"Guess I'll need to take this a little more serious." Aoi said menacingly. "This ends now."

Aoi gripped the Raijn no Ken and sped forward. Naruko barely managed to block the attack by using both her Tanto. To her surprise the 'Raijin no Ken' seemed much more powerful now than earlier and she felt her Tanto crack under the strain. Even with Chakra protecting them, the sword of the Nidaime Hokage managed to damage them.

With a loud crack both of Naruko's Tanto broke in several pieces. Naruko's eyes widened in shock before a fist hit her in the face. She reeled back from the hit but wasn't out for the count. She dodged a second attack from Aoi but couldn't dodge the low kick that send her skidding across the ground.

Haku saw her girlfriend in trouble and jumped between her and Aoi. She stopped him from advancing on Naruko and engaged him in a Kenjutsu battle. So far her sword had held up against a lot of things but nothing like a confrontation with a sword like the 'Raijin no Ken'. She felt that she would need to focus a large amount of chakra into her sword or else it would break just as easily as Naruko's Tanto.

Naruko groaned as she stood up, her stomach still hurting from the blow. Luckily, she didn't feel as if she had broken a rib or something so she would be fine in a moment. She stared at the pieces of her Tanto that were laying a bit away from her. Those had been one of the first presents she had gotten from Yuugao-neechan and she treasured them dearly. Now they were destroyed and she felt very sad. A few seconds later however that sadness turned into anger.

'Okay, that's it.' Naruko raged internally. 'This asshole is going down. Time to try and see it in practice.'

That was one of the latest Jutsu she and Haku had been working on. It was a long range Raiton jutsu, which had taken over two months to create. Even now, she still didn't master it but that was okay. She had enough control to take Aoi down. She put her hands together in front of her chest and concentrated. Like some of her other Raiton Jutsu, a small spark of Raiton Chakra formed once she moved her hands outwards. When the spark was big enough, she grinned in satisfaction. This was only the first and easiest part of her jutsu. Now came the hard part; in one fluid movement she moved her hands further outward until her arms were stretched out beside her. The spark of Raiton Chakra had thinned and gotten as long as the space between her arms. It had became a spear of Raiton Jutsu.

Naruko's eyes were scrunched tightly in concentration as she took the spear into one hand. It was a tricky process and was easily messed up if she lost focus. In order to keep the shape of the spear intact she still needed to be in contact with it. She turned to the fight and saw that Haku was actually dominating the fight. She wasn't surprised as Haku had trained for months in Kenjutsu with Yuugao-sensei so she had a lot of experience where Aoi seemed only to have some amateur knowledge of Kenjutsu. Naruko watched and waited until the time was right. Five seconds later she saw it and she yelled at Haku to get out of the way; Haku didn't hesitate or doubt her words and jumped out of the way.

"Raiton: Kami no Yari" Naruko yelled and she hurled the spear in Aoi's direction.

Aoi heard the blonde yell to his opponent to get out of the way. He tried to prevent Haku from jumping away but was unsuccessful and it left him open for a fraction of a second. In the time he saw the blonde Kunoichi throw something at him and then he felt nothing but pain. A soaring and burning pain in his chest and the rest of his body. He screamed as he felt the Raiton attack ran through his body causing internal and external damage that would take a long time to heal. He had lost and he knew it. When he finally stopped screaming, his body was emitting smoke and he toppled over, face down in the dirt.

Aoi tried to get to his feet but it took most, if not all, of his remaining strength to do so. He cursed both kunoichi in front of him while trying to find a way out. He knew he would need a small miracle if he wanted to get away and live. His eyes roamed the place looking for something that might help him but he came up empty.

"Don't worry, we won't kill you." Naruko said breathing deeply. That last attack had cost her a lot of Chakra and it would take her a few minutes to catch her breath.

"Hyouton: Eien no Kangoku" Haku said while placing her hand on the ground.

Aoi feared the worst but he was surprised when ice started to form at his feet. Before he could jump away the ice had reached up to his knees and it kept moving up. Soon his waist, arms and torso were encased in ice as well; leaving on his neck and head free. He tried to struggle and break the ice but no matter what he did, nothing worked.

"Don't bother trying to escape." Naruko said. "It won't work. This is one of Haku-chan's strongest Jutsu and so far nothing has been able to break it."

"W-What are y-you d-doing?" Aoi managed to say.

"The ice will imprison you for eternity." Haku said taking Naruko's hand to stand up. "Only I can remove the ice without killing you. You'll be taken back to Konoha where you will be trialed and punished from betraying Konoha and stealing two of the greatest heirlooms of the Nidaime Hokage."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Naruko said walking behind Aoi. "Haku-chan, can you free the area around his pockets?"

"Sure." Haku smiled and the ice vanished.

Naruko searched Aoi's pockets and quickly found what she was looking for. In her hand she held the scroll of the Nidaime Hokage, which she quickly put in her own pouch. She then turned to where the Raijin no Ken had dropped and picked it up as well. It had returned to only being the hilt as there wasn't any Chakra focused into it. Curious, Naruko tried it out and focused some of her Raiton natured Chakra into the hilt. Instantly, the blade appeared again but it was different form when Aoi used it. It was now blue in color and had the shape of a standard katana. She shrugged and stopped channeling Chakra before she put the sword away as well.

"Thanks." Naruko grinned at Aoi who was shivering in cold.

"You thing you've won?" Aoi managed to say. "When I get out of here, I'll make you pay for this humiliation."

"Yeah, yeah we heard that one before." Naruko snorted before nodding at Haku.

Haku nodded and the ice now completely covered Aoi from head to toe.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Haku said relaxing a bit. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Naruko assured her girlfriend. "Nothing broken anyway. I might be tender on my side for a bit but nothing a good rest won't cure."

"Good." Haku said giving Naruko a quick kiss. "I can't wait to get back home. I've missed spending time with just the two of us."

"Me too. I love missions but I hate how we have to hide our feelings." Naruko nodded returning the kiss. "Tell you what, when we get back we'll go to the hot springs. Just you and me."

"I'd love that." Haku smiled excited at the date.

"Now, how about we catch up with Idate and see him win the race." Naruko said getting back to business.

After summoning Gamaken once more and asking him to get them to the other side, Naruko and Haku headed for the end of the race. They left Aoi standing there, frozen like a popsicle for now. They would contact Konoha later and get someone to come and get him. They were sure Ibiki would love to have a chance at interrogating the traitor that caused so much trouble for him and his brother.

They wondered if Idate had managed to catch up with Fukusuke but they figured that there was no chance that the young former shinobi would lose to someone like Fukusuke. Not when so many people relied on him to win. They hurried nonetheless hoping to be on time to see Idate cross the finish line.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Back to Konoha

Naruko and Haku woke up feeling very refreshed and full of energy. After some heated lovemaking they had fallen asleep in each other's arms and slept through the night. It had been a few days since they had been able to show their affections to each other so naturally last night had been full of that.

The evening and night before had gone by in a blur. The two of them had just caught up with Idate as he managed to pass Fukusuke to the finish line and win the Modoroki Fire Race. The party after the award ceremony had been wild as most of the villagers went crazy knowing that their troubles were over. Now that the Wasabi Clan had regained control over the village, things would turn back to normal and they could relax.

Adding the fact that the Wagarashi Clan had been disbanded by the Daimyo for cheating and trying to assassinate Jirocho was enough to keep the party going until the early hours. The Daimyo had gotten word from one of his advisors and spies that the Wagarashi Clan had hired a group of thugs to kill Jirocho and he had taken measure to prevent that from happening. He didn't have to bother as Yamato took care of them without a problem. A group of thugs was no match for a Jounin of Konoha.

After Naruko and Haku had explained what had happened, Yamato had contacted Konoha and requested a prisoner transport back to the village. The transport was expected to arrive later that day. Yamato had been very impressed with how his students had defeated Aoi and retrieved the stolen objects from him. He was pretty sure some reward would be given to them for apprehending a traitor like Aoi. He didn't tell Naruko and Haku however so that they wouldn't get their hopes up.

After they had cleaned up and dressed Naruko and Haku made their way through the large mansion of the Wasabi clan. Along the way they met several clan members still in festive mood, who invited them to have a drink or party with them. The girls politely declined and continued making their way to the living room where Yamato and Jirocho were waiting for them.

"Ah, there you are." Jirocho exclaimed when they entered the room. "We've missed you at the party last night."

"Sorry Jirocho-oyabun, Haku-chan and I were tired and needed to get some rest." Naruko smiled.

"Oh yes, of course." Jirocho nodded not thinking beyond what Naruko told him. "Well, let me be the first to thank you. Thanks to the two of you, Idate made it to the finish line unharmed. I don't know what I would have done if he had gotten hurt or worse."

"No thanks are needed, Jirocho-oyabun." Haku said smiling. "We were hired to protect Idate-san after all."

"Yes but you did so much more than just protect him." Jirocho said. "He told me what happened and how you forced him to let go of the past. For so long, I've tried to get him to open up about it but he just wouldn't budge. Now thanks to you, he's finally able to move on with his life."

"You're welcome." Naruko said. "Idate is a good person, he just needed a kick in the butt. You really do care about him, don't you?"

"I do." Jirocho nodded. "In fact, last night I adopted Idate and made him my heir. If anything this whole situation taught me that I need to consider the future of our clan. With Idate as my heir, that future looks brighter than ever."

"I'm sure he'll do an excellent job." Yamato nodded.

Just then a messenger opened the door saying that a ship from Konoha had arrived at the border. Naruko and Haku looked up in surprise and turned to Yamato who chuckled. He explained that Konoha had a large fleet of ships but that was not general knowledge. Only Jounin and ANBU were privy to that knowledge and the fleet was only used during wartime or special occasions. The girls nodded and wondered what else they didn't know about Konoha.

"Come on, Haku-chan. Let's go see the ship." Naruko said excited, dragging Haku out of the room.

"Those two will get far won't they?" Jirocho said to Yamato.

"Indeed they will." Yamato said. "Already the Sandaime Hokage and the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni have high expectations from both of them. Naruko and Haku have risen through the ranks at incredible speed. It wouldn't surprise me that they get promoted to Jounin somewhere in the next two years."

"Well, let's go see what all the fuss is about." Jirocho said as well.

Naruko and Haku ran to the harbor to see the ship and got cheered and thanked along the way by the villagers. To them they were the heroes who protected their own hero, Idate. The girls smiled and waved back but didn't stop running as they were too excited to see a Konoha battle ship. The run to the harbor didn't take more than ten minutes and soon the ship became visible.

It was a lot bigger than they expected and the sails proudly displayed the Konoha mark making it obvious where the ship came from. Also on the side were banners with the same mark, which Naruko thought was a bit much. The deck was pretty standard with two masts for the sails and a large cabin at the rear end of the ship. When they stopped in front of the ship, the cabin door opened and a familiar face stepped out. A tall man wearing a trench coat and a bandana walked to the dock and behind him a smaller copy followed him.

"Ibiki-san, you're the one they sent?" Naruko said surprised. "And you're Tsuyoshi, right?"

"I heard you captured Rokushou Aoi." Ibiki said while Tsuyoshi nodded. "I have some unfinished business with him. Where is he?"

"He's at the other island." Naruko said pointing to the Oozu Island. "He's incased in a block of ice, courtesy of Haku-chan."

"Very well." Ibiki nodded and snapped his fingers. Three Chuunin appeared next to him and waited for his orders. "The three of you will accompany Naruko and Haku to retrieve him. We'll meet you at the coast of the Island so bring him there."

"Hai." One of the Chuunin said. "Naruko-san, Haku-san, If you would please show us the way."

"We'll need a boat." Haku said.

"I'll take you there." A voice sounded from the crowd that had gathered. Naruko and Haku recognized that voice by now and wondered how that person would handle seeing his brother.

"Thank Idate." Naruko said.

Without saying one word to each other Idate and Ibiki looked at each other before Idate nodded. Ibiki showed no sign of emotion but Idate knew his brother better than anyone. He could tell his brother was both happy and proud to see him. There was no need to talk about what happened in the past anymore so they just moved on.

* * *

Four hours later Haku removed the ice from around Aoi, who slumped to the floor. He was shivering from the cold and his body refused to move like he wanted to. When he noticed Ibiki standing in front of him, his face paled and almost fainted on the spot. He was transported to the holding cells on the ship but not before they slapped on some Chakra-Repressing Seals on him, just to make sure.

"Well, guess this is it." Idate said somewhat sad to see his new friends leave.

"Yep, take care of yourself and the village." Naruko grinned.

"I'm sure you'll be a wonderful leader in a few years." Haku smiled at the boy.

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Idate joked. "You could become my wives and live a quiet, peaceful live."

"No thanks." Naruko and Haku said together. "That would be too boring; not to mention we're not into boys."

"Oh!" Idate said in understanding. "T-That's k-kind of cool."

"Don't get any perverted ideas." Naruko threatened.

"N-No, of course not." Idate said quickly. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't mention it." Haku smiled. "It was nice meeting you."

"If you ever need anything, then I'll be there to help you out." Idate said. "The Wasabi Clan will support you and Konoha in any way possible."

"Likewise." Naruko and Haku said. "Good luck."

Idate watched with his new father at his side as the ship sailed out of sight back to Konoha. He was sad to see them go as he considered them precious friends. At that moment he realized the true meaning of the tenth question of the Chuunin Exam. His brother wanted them to understand that there were more important things than getting promoted. He wanted him to understand that promotion or fame was never worth it if it meant sacrificing your friends and teammates. When he had stayed to take the tenth question he had basically abandoned and sacrificed one of his teammates.

'I understand now, brother.' Idate thought. 'I will never make that mistake again. Thank you for showing me how wrong I was.'

On the boat Naruko and Haku were finally relaxing after interrogating Ibiki about why Konoha need a fleet. Naruko didn't get it because Konoha was right smack in the middle of Hi no Kuni with no access routes for the ships. Sure there were small rivers but nothing big enough to let a ship sail on it. Ibiki, figuring he could at least give them a small explanation, said that the fleet was usually used to bring resources to Hi no Kuni. In times of war however, they would equip the fleet with weaponry and shinobi. They also provided protection from pirates to clients of Konoha.

"Pirates?" Naruko asked excited. "You think we'll encounter any?"

"Any pirate stupid enough to attack a Konoha vessel is a pirate not worth fighting." Ibiki grunted.

"Oh, I guess that means no then." Naruko said disappointed. "This is going to be a boring trip."

"Don't worry Naruko-chan, we'll be home before you know it." Haku laughed.

Haku was right in the fact that the trip didn't take nearly as long as expected. The travel time by boat was much shorter then by foot so they made good progress. To spend the time, the girls talked with the crew and Tsuyoshi. The young boy was now a mix of Kakashi and Ibiki, which the girls thought was hilarious. They even managed to convince him to walk around with a book and uses Kakashi's classical line 'Did you say something?' to annoy Ibiki and the crew.

Tsuyoshi used the opportunity to ask them about Anko but the girls quickly told him that they couldn't help him with that. He seemed very disappointed but got over it a couple of hours later. He explained what he had been learning under Ibiki's tutelage and how much he enjoyed working with him. When Naruko asked about his time as a member of Team 7, Tsuyoshi shrugged.

"Kakashi-sensei was great." Tsuyoshi explained. "Sure, he was always late and might seem lazy but he did his best to make us understand that being a shinobi is serious business. He wanted us to come to him, instead of being given everything."

"I still think I'm lucky for not being on Sasuke's team." Naruko said. "I would have killed him by now."

"Don't say that." Tsuyoshi said disapproving. "He's not that bad but he pushes everyone away. He's a bit spoiled and he wants to get stronger so fast that he overlooks the details. He compares himself to others all the time and when he sees the differences in skill and power, he gets angry and frustrated. All he thinks about is getting stronger to kill his brother."

"Uchiha Itachi." Naruko nodded knowingly. "Not an easy goal that's for sure."

"That's an understatement." Ibiki said joining the conversation. "I worked with the guy several times. He was a prodigy; a genius that appears once in a decade. He could have gone far, perhaps even Hokage one day if his clan hadn't ruined him."

"Ruined him?" Haku asked.

"The Uchiha always were a proud clan with strong shinobi." Ibiki nodded. "Nothing else mattered to them. They were admired and respected by their allies and feared by their enemies. Unfortunately, they lost a lot of favor over the years and the clan declined in power and respect; this angered them greatly. So when Itachi, a genius unlike any before, appeared they used him to regain the respect of the old days. They pushed and pushed him until he finally broke. He was a good man but his life was controlled by his father and the Uchiha clan."

"That's so sad." Naruko said feeling for the young Uchiha.

"Anyone would break under that kind of pressure and expectations." Ibiki said. "Don't get me wrong; I don't condone what he did but in the end the Uchiha clan caused their own destruction."

After that the conversation turned to much lighter subjects and the three youngsters had some great fun. Like Anko had told them Tsuyoshi had a crazy sense of humor and both girls laughed a lot when the young man told some jokes and acted out some reactions from prisoners. They especially liked the story of how Mizuki has spilled the beans to Anko after only one session.

"She's brilliant but scary." Tsuyoshi said.

* * *

Around noon the next day, the group of shinobi and one prisoner reached the gates of Konoha. Ibiki and Tsuyoshi said their goodbye's and marched off with Aoi, heading towards the interrogation cells. Yamato and the girls however needed to report to the Sandaime so they went straight to the Hokage Tower. They just caught him before he went to lunch so the Sandaime insisted they joined him. Naruko managed to convince her grandfather in anything but blood that ramen was what he wanted for lunch. The rest laughed at Naruko's love for ramen.

When they were about to finish lunch, Naruko was asked by the Sandaime to get Yuugao, Anko and Tsunade to join them for the meeting. Naruko nodded and quickly made some clones and gave the order to go fetch the others. When they arrived at the Tower, the summoned people were already waiting. Naruko and Haku got big hugs from their sisters, who were glad they were alright and safe.

"Alright, let's get the meeting started." The Sandaime said. "Yamato, how was the mission?"

Yamato quickly explained what the mission entailed and what had happened. Naruko and Haku helped explain the parts where Yamato hadn't been there as he was protecting Jirocho. The Sandaime nodded when the report finished and thanked them for a job well done.

"We got something for Tsunade-baa-chan." Naruko said.

"Oh, did you bring me back some sake?" Tsunade said rubbing her hands. "Cha no Kuni has some great sake."

"Nope, no sake but something you'll like even better." Naruko smiled while she took out the 'Raijin no Ken' and the secret scroll of the Nidaime Hokage. "I believe these belong to you?"

"T-That's impossible." Tsunade said shocked. "That's Tobirama-ji-san's sword. Where did you find it?"

"Aoi stole it from Konoha." Haku said leaving out Idate. "We took it back after defeating him. The scroll is also from the Nidaime Hokage and he stole it in order to learn powerful Suiton Jutsu but he didn't manage to open it."

"Thank you." Tsunade said with tears in her eyes, holding both items to her chest. She looked at the sword and the scroll before making a decision. "You keep these." She said giving the Raijin no Ken to Naruko and the scroll to Haku.

"B-but they're yours…." Naruko said. "We can't accept these."

"Sure you can." Tsunade said quickly. "They're mine to give. I'd rather have them used by someone I trust and love, then let them gather dust in some vault. These will help you both to achieve your dreams, won't it?"

"Well yes but still…" Haku said uncertain.

"Good, then you accept." Tsunade said closing the matter.

"Thank you." Naruko and Haku said giving the woman a hug. "You're the best."

"Now that's over, I have several things I want to discuss with all of you." The Sandaime said. "Jiraiya, you can come out now."

Everyone turned to the spot where the Sandaime was watching and to their surprise, Jiraiya appeared out of thin air.

"Geez, you always ruin my moment." Jiraiya grumbled. "Can't you let me have any fun?"

"You can have fun later." The Sandaime said grinning a bit. He loved pissing off his former students. "Your message said you had news about Akatsuki?"

"Straight to the point." Jiraiya sighed. "Yes, Akatsuki has started to move again. My spies confirmed that they are hunting down Missing-Nin for funds and information. They weren't able to tell me any identities of the members but like we know, they're all S-Rank shinobi."

"Any more news about their goals?" Yamato asked.

"Nothing." Jiraiya said. "All I know is that they're looking for Jinchuuriki and the Bijuu. However, I believe it will still take a year or perhaps two before they can start looking for them. They're getting stronger but they're not there yet. I don't think they will risk exposure too early by hunting the Jinchuuriki."

"So we have only two years to get stronger." Naruko said somewhat scared. She wasn't a coward or anything but she'd rather not face a S-Rank shinobi anytime soon.

"That's not a lot of time." Yuugao said worried.

"It's not but there are things that will help." Jiraiya said. "If all of us work together then Naruko and Haku should be at Jounin level by that time. I have a few idea's I'm working on but nothing concrete for now. Just train hard and learn everything we give you and you'll be fine."

"Thanks Jiraiya-kyoufu." Naruko said happily.

"This brings me to my own announcement." The Sandaime said. "I have decided to step down as Hokage at the end of the year." His words were met with gasps of shock and disbelief. Naruko was stunned and so were Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"What are you saying, Ji-chan?" Naruko asked not believing she had heard. "You can't just quit like that."

"Naru-chan, listen to me." The Sandaime smiled understanding her feelings. "I'm an old man. Konoha is facing troubled times and thus needs a leader that can guide them through this."

"But what about you?" Haku asked as she had come to love the old man just as much as Naruko. "You guided Konoha so well for so long. Why can't you do it?"

"Thank you for your kind words, Haku-chan." Sarutobi said. "But I feel that the time has come to pass the torch to the next generation. I felt it when I battled Orochimaru during the invasion. If it wasn't for all your help, I would have died on that rooftop. No, Konoha needs a strong and respected leader that will strike fear into our enemies."

"So you have chosen a successor?" Anko asked.

"I have." The Sandaime said looking at Tsunade who understood.

"Oh no, no way." She exclaimed. "I'm not cut out to be Hokage. I'm not doing it."

"Please Tsunade, you're the only one that I can trust." The Sandaime said. "You and Jiraiya are the only ones that I deem worthy but Jiraiya is too valuable to be confined to the village. This village needs you now more than ever. The people adore and respect you; I'm sure they would be very happy to have you as their leader."

"Look, I'm just not suited for the job." Tsunade tried once more. "I don't know anything about politics and I definitely don't have the patience and tact to deal with people like Danzo."

"That's fine." The Sandaime said. "Konoha needs a strong-willed leader who won't back down from confrontations. I'm at the age that I just don't have the energy anymore to fight every battle like I should. As for politics, I'm not resigning for several months so I plan to help you every step of the way. I'm not going to throw you to the wolves like that. Some people have forgotten that the Hokage is the one who rules Konoha."

"Come one Baa-chan." Naruko said strongly. "Like Ji-chan said, you're the only one fit for the job. Besides, I'll be there to take over from you in a couple of years."

"You promise?" Tsunade said weakly. "I'll hold you to it you know? I expect you to be ready in the next five years to take over from me."

"I guess that's fine." Naruko shrugged. "I'll be ready."

"So you'll do it?" The Sandaime said hopeful.

"Fine but there had better be some serious compensation for all the trouble this will get me." Tsunade sighed heavily. "And you'll become my advisor for the first two years."

"Deal." The Sandaime said quickly. "I can live with that."

"Very well, when will you announce it?" Tsunade said.

"Not for a while." The Sandaime said. "At least not officially. People will figure it out when they see you at my side from now on but I would like to wait for the official announcement until further. No need to advertise our moves."

"Fine, now if you'll excuse me I need a drink." Tsunade said leaving the room.

"She took it pretty well, don't you think?" Jiraiya smirked as his teammate left. "I honestly thought she would fight you tooth and nail over this. Guess she's truly over what happened in the past. And you…" he turned to Naruko grabbing his goddaughter in a headlock. "getting a little ahead of yourself don't you think?"

"Hey, let go of me." Naruko struggled for a bit. "What does it matter? I'll become Hokage sooner or later so might as well set a date."

"Kids these days have no patience anymore." Jiraiya said rubbing his knuckles on Naruko's head causing her to struggle even harder making everyone laugh.

"Haku-chan, help." Naruko yelled.

"Oh two against one, is it?" Jiraiya laughed when he saw Haku ready to help her girlfriend. "Fine, I surrender."

"Wise choice." Anko grinned. "Those two can cause some serious damage when they want to."

"Says the one who destroyed the couch while rough-housing with them." Yuugao said making Anko cringe at the memory.

"I got us a new one, didn't I?" Anko said sheepishly.

Everyone laughed at that and the tension that was present vanished. Now that everyone was relaxed and had gotten used to the news of the Sandaime's intentions of retiring, the group split up. Yuugao returned to her team, who were still training and Anko got back Ibiki as she wanted a crack at Aoi. Yamato said his goodbye's as well telling Naruko and Haku that they had the rest of the day and the next off to recover from the mission. Naruko and Haku stayed a while longer at the Sandaime's office but soon left afterwards so the old man could work. Jiraiya left as well saying he had to meet up with a contact just out of Konoha.

"So, how about that date at the hot springs?" Naruko said to Haku while walking.

"Sounds perfect." Haku smiled.

"Let's go." Naruko said dragging her girlfriend along.

* * *

Ten minutes they arrived at the familiar hot springs and got inside. They weren't the only ones using the facilities but it didn't matter to them. They quickly got rid of their clothes and washed themselves on the small bench before grabbing a towel and headed outside. The Konoha hot springs were a loved attraction for both shinobi and civilians so there were always people present. It had separate men and women sides as to co-ed baths as well for those who wanted that kind of thing. Naruko and Haku chose a small section of the springs and relaxed in the water.

"Ah this feels so good." Naruko sighed content.

"It's nice to be able to relax after a mission." Haku agreed sitting close to Naruko. "But this is nicer."

Naruko felt Haku's lips on hers before she could reply. Not that she minded of course and so she eagerly returned the kiss. They didn't do anything else as this was a public place after all and even now they were careful not to be seen. There was always the possibility that there were people that were easily offended or children present. Still that didn't stop them from sitting close and stealing a few kisses here and there.

Naruko was leaning into Haku when she heard a few familiar voices. Looking up she saw TenTen, Hinata, Sakura and Ino entering the springs and judging from the reaction of the girls, they had seen them as well. Naruko sighed when she saw them heading their way and just knew that their quiet moment of relaxation was over.

"Hey, you two." TenTen said. "Haven't seen you around much. Were you two on some mission?"

"Hi TenTen." Haku smiled at the bun-haired girl. "We've just returned from a mission yes."

"Cool, what kind of mission was it?" Ino wanted to know. "Any hot guys?"

"Ino-pig, you know they're not interested in guys." Sakura said pushing the girl aside.

"So what Forehead, that doesn't mean they can't tell if a guy is hot or not." Ino rebuked. "So, any hot guys?"

"No Ino-san, no hot guys." Haku said simply. She was well aware of how much Ino liked gossip.

"So how come you're all here together?" Naruko said changing the subject. "I didn't know you all got along so well now."

"W-Well, our sensei d-decided to t-train us together." Hinata said shyly.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Naruko said surprised. "Since when?"

"Since a few months." TenTen said. "It's not a big deal. We just get together a few times a week and have some sparring matches and training together. It's fun most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Haku asked curious.

"You know how weird some of our sensei are." TenTen shrugged. "Mix that with two arrogant and self-absorbed boys and one over-enthusiastic one and you'll get chaos no matter what you do."

"Lee, Sasuke and Neji?" Naruko surmised.

"Yep." TenTen nodded. "It's been a blast."

"Come on TenTen, it can be that bad?" Haku said.

"You should come see it sometimes." TenTen snorted. "Sasuke's all broody and thinks were all below him. Neji's droning on and on about fate and destiny and Lee is constantly trying to challenge both of them."

"Hey, Sasuke-kun isn't all broody." Ino and Sakura defended their crush.

"Still not over that crush huh?" Naruko snorted. "At least you started training seriously."

"Shut up." Sakura glared at Naruko. "Don't think I forgot what you did at the hospital after the invasion."

"Huh? What did I do?" Naruko asked not knowing what Sakura was talking about.

"You tricked me into yelling so I got transferred to the second floor." Sakura said angry. "Do you know how perverted those old men were?"

"Oh yeah, that." Naruko laughed. "That was funny."

"Naru-chan didn't do that on purpose." Haku said. "She only wanted to encourage you to keep training. You started shouting after you were warned by Shizune-nee-chan."

"Whatever." Sakura snorted.

* * *

While the girls were chatting a young shinobi made way to his former home. Uchiha Sasuke hated walking down the old Uchiha District after everything that had happened there. It reminded him each and every time of everything he had lost that faithful night. The events still burned at the forefront of his mind, something he would never forget. While walking down the streets he saw the ghosts of the people living there; his clan and family.

He recognized the old shop where an old lady and her husband used to sell candy and sweets. There weren't shinobi but they were part of the clan so they were family. They used to give him a free candy or sweet whenever he came back from the academy or training. They were gently souls and had never hurt a fly. They didn't deserve to die the way they did.

Moving on he walked past the Konoha Police HQ where his father used to work as the head of the Konoha Police. He had visited lots of times to see his dad at work and to see his fellow Uchiha protect the village from the inside. When he was little he used to dream to become the head of the Konoha Police like his father but now he knew better. Still, it brought back a lot of memories. Some very good and some bad. His father was a difficult man and was hard to read but Sasuke knew his dad loved him. He might not show it a lot but it was there; even if Itachi was all he talked about at home.

Finally his ancestral home came into view and his heart skipped a few beats. The pain came back full force and he had to push himself not to turn back and leave. He pressed on and opened the gate to the house. After all these years, the homes had fallen into decay and the gardens were not cared for but there was nothing he could do about that. While the Uchiha clan had some money, Sasuke had no access to it until he become an adult. Sure, shinobi were considered adults but when it came to money, things always work different.

The house was still in good shape and after unsealing the door, he entered the hallway. After removing his shoes he wandered around the house a bit, trying to remember what it was like before the massacre had happened. Tears came into his eyes when he entered the room where he had found his parents' bodies and he quickly left before emotion overcame him. Setting out to do what he came for he entered his father's office, something he wasn't allowed to do when his dad was alive. The office had several hidden spaces where some of the clan's secrets were stored. Nothing big of course but some Ninjutsu or Taijutsu scrolls were hidden there. Replacing the scroll he had taken before while at the same time grabbing a new Katon Ninjutsu scroll, he left the office.

If his sensei wasn't going to teach him some high leveled Ninjutsu and Taijutsu then he would have to find another way. It wasn't that Kakashi was a total loss as a teacher, after all he had taught him the Chidori but other than that he had hardly taught him any Ninjutsu. Sasuke had briefly toyed with the idea of using his Sharingan to copy a few techniques here and there but decided against it. The chance of getting caught was just too big and he knew how Konoha shinobi frowned upon it. Still, the number of Jutsu that he could learn from his father's office were shrinking so he would have to find some other way.

'Perhaps it's time to explore the district again.' Sasuke thought. 'Who knows what I might find?'

With that decision in mind Sasuke left the Uchiha district for his apartment. Exploration could wait until later as he wanted to make sure nobody would be able to spot him. Also, with his Sharingan he would be able to see through any Genjutsu that he might come across so he was pretty sure things would go smoothly.

'I'm coming for you Itachi.' Sasuke smirked. 'Soon you'll be the one laying at my feet, fearing for your life.'


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Nightmares of the past

A week after they returned from their mission in Cha no Kuni, Naruko and Haku were once more training hard under the supervision of Yamato. Both of them were still working on improving their control over their elemental Chakra and had been allowed to move on to the more advanced exercises. Naruko had finally learned to cut the fifty leaves instantly and thus was now working on using her Futon Element to cut a small rock. This was a lot harder to achieve then cutting some tree leaves and she had barely made a scratch in it so far.

After three days of trying she had gotten nowhere and had asked if this exercise was even possible to achieve. Yamato had told her that the Futon element was the strongest when it came to cutting things and that a true Futon master could cut through rock and metal like it wasn't even there. He used Asuma as an example as he too was a Futon user who had great control over his element. When Asuma used his trench knives and focused Futon chakra into it, he was able to cut up large boulders without a problem. Naruko had simply sighed while looking at her rock and had started all over again.

She had also started to take some lessons on Kenjutsu so she could learn to use the 'Raijin no Ken' effectively. While she had seen Haku and Yuugao train in Kenjutsu, Naruko had never really paid attention to the training. Now she and Haku were sparring quite often and while still on amateur level, she could at least handle herself a bit. While she doubted she would ever be a master of Kenjutsu, she wanted to be proficient with it at the least.

Haku had also been working hard on her Suiton and her Futon element. She needed to master both so her Kekkei Genkai would become stronger. Like Naruko she worked very hard on the leaf cutting exercise and had progressed to almost forty leaves already. For her Suiton element, Yamato had her practice pulling out water out of air. She was making good progress but still needed a lot of work. Her Kekkei Genkai gave her an advantage as it simplified things a bit but Yamato insisted that she needed to master both Fuuton and Suiton if she wanted to use her bloodline to the maximum of its capabilities.

They had done a few missions here and there but nothing exciting. It was a welcome breather after the last few mission they had done. By now Yamato was fully accepted by the girls and they got along great. Yamato was often invited to have dinner together with Yuugao and Anko as he was a single man and they wanted him to eat properly.

They liked their new sensei because he was a excellent teacher. He was patient when he explained something and he was always ready to help if they needed it. Sure, he wasn't Yuugao but that was fine. He was an ANBU just like she had been and it showed when he got serious. They had heard stories about how he could transform into a terrifying person when it called for it.

Naruko and Yamato also worked a lot on her using the Kyuubi's chakra but they hadn't much progress yet. Until now she had been unable to summon the Kyuubi's chakra when she wanted it. Yamato guessed that she was still too young to use the chakra at will and that only when she was extremely angry, it would manifest. He encouraged her to keep trying but only when he was around so if things got out of control he could help. Last thing they wanted was for Naruko to lose control over the Kyuubi's chakra and doing who knows what.

"Alright, that's it for today." Yamato said when the sun started to go down. "Good work you two, we continue tomorrow."

"Are you coming for dinner tonight, Yamato-sensei?" Haku asked.

"I'd love to but I can't." Yamato responded. "I have a previous appointment."

"A previous appointment? Like a date?" Naruko asked grinning. "Who is it?"

"Go home, you two." Yamato laughed.

"Fine but we'll find out sooner or later." Naruko said in singing tone.

* * *

Naruko and Haku loitered around for a while just enjoying the rest of the early evening. They visited the Ichiraku Ramen stand and talked a bit with Ayame and her dad though Haku had to restrain Naruko from ordering several bowls of ramen. Naruko sighed loudly promising the two restaurant owners to come back later in the week and get her weekly dose of ramen. Teuchi and Ayame laughed saying they looked forward to seeing her.

Along the way, Naruko and Haku encountered a few familiar faces and stopped for a short chat with each of them. One of them was Kurenai-sensei who seemed to be all dressed up for some reason. When they asked her if she had a date, the Genjutsu mistress just blushed and told them that she was just having a get together with a close friend and no, it wasn't a date. Naruko and Haku smiled at the evasive answer but didn't bother the woman any further. They wished her a good time and continued on their way home.

"She's so obvious." Naruko grinned at Haku.

"Yep, it was definitely a date." Haku agreed. "I wonder with whom?"

"Let's see." Naruko thought. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"No, she hates that book he keeps reading." Haku shook her head. "And we all know Kakashi-sensei won't give up his Icha Icha Paradise for anything."

"Dumbass." Naruko laughed. "Okay, who else do we have?"

"What about Iruka-sensei?" Haku wondered.

"Nah, he's too shy for her." Naruko dismissed that option. "He's a great guy, don't get me wrong but Kurenai-sensei needs someone who's not afraid to stand up to her."

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei is a bit of a wimp when it comes to women." Haku said agreeing. "Genma?"

"Possible." Naruko nodded. "He's good looking and pretty cool."

"Is he now?" Haku glared a bit.

"You've got nothing to worry about." Naruko giggled wrapping her arm around Haku's waist pulling her close. "I only have eyes for you."

"Good." Haku said leaning in for a kiss.

"But seriously, Genma doesn't sound like someone Kurenai-sensei would fall for." Naruko said continuing their conversation. "I've heard he's a bit of a player and has several girlfriends at the same time."

"Definitely out then." Haku said. "Izumo or Kotetsu?"

"The Baka-twins?" Naruko asked. "No way, she's way out of their league."

"Figured as much." Haku laughed.

"Gai-sensei?" Naruko said jokingly.

"I'll pretend you didn't mention his name." Haku snorted.

"Yeah bit of a stretch there." Naruko admitted. "Well, then there's only one left."

"Asuma-sensei." Haku nodded. "I could see those two together. He's pretty laid-back and he's strong as well. Not to mention son of the Hokage."

"Their teams do seem to work together a lot as well." Naruko mentioned. "So they do spend a lot of time in each other's presence."

"Not a bad choice." Haku said. "If only he would stop smoking."

"Yeah, like that will happen." Naruko snorted again. "Another mystery solved."

"We're getting good at that aren't we?" Haku laughed as they came up to their home.

They were still laughing as they entered the living room where Yuugao and Anko were waiting for them. After explaining what they had seen and figured out, Yuugao and Anko had a small grin on their faces. When Naruko asked about it, they told them that Kurenai and Asuma had been dancing around each other for months but that neither of them had dared to make the first move until now. They didn't know what had changed or who took the first step but they were glad for their friends. Both Kurenai and Asuma had some bad experiences in relationships and they hoped things worked out for them.

After spending some time with their sisters and discussing the events of the day, Naruko and Haku turned in for the night. Anko and Yuugao stayed up for another hour before they too went to bed.

* * *

Several hours later Naruko and Haku were awoken by a loud scream coming from their sister's bedroom. Knowing that this was not a normal scream both of the put on some panties and a shirt and ran to bedroom. They didn't bother knocking and just stormed inside. They saw Anko sitting on the bed, sweat dripping from her face and her body shaking like a leaf. Yuugao had her arms around her lover whispering soft words to her.

"What's going on?" Naruko asked softly as she sat down on the bed.

"Anko had a nightmare." Yuugao said rubbing her lover's back, trying to comfort her. "She has had them before but never like this."

"I'm o-okay." Anko managed to say.

"No, you're not okay." Haku said softly. "You're still shaking. I'll make us some hot coco and then you can tell us about your dream."

"T-that's not n-necessary." Anko said softly. "Just go back to sleep."

"No way, Neechan." Naruko shook her head. "You've always been there for us so now we're here for you. I don't know what the dream was about but I can tell it was terrible for you."

"They're right Anko." Yuugao said softly kissing Anko's forehead. "Don't retreat in that cold, distant person again. You've got a family now and family takes care of each other."

"O-Okay." Anko nodded letting Naruko pull her in a hug.

Ten minutes later the four of them all sat at the kitchen table with a mug of hot chocolate in front of them. Yuugao, Naruko and Haku waited patiently until Anko started talking about her dreams. They were curious but they also didn't want to push as that would only have the opposite effect on Anko. They knew her well enough by now that she was a stubborn girl at times so it was better to let her start at her own pace.

"Okay, you know about how I was the apprentice of Orochimaru right?" Anko said as she started her story. When everyone nodded she continued. "At that time I was so proud of being the student of one of the most famous shinobi of Konoha. I absolutely adored him and I wanted to be just like him. He was still loyal to Konoha when I became his student, or at least I think he was, and I looked up to him. He was so strong and I couldn't wait to start my training with him. I was sure that I would become the strongest kunoichi ever since Tsunade-sama with his help."

"Things didn't work out that well, didn't they?" Haku asked although she already knew the answer.

"You can say that." Anko snorted. "For the first few months things went great. I learned so much and I was quickly becoming stronger and stronger and I was so proud of myself. But after a few months of working with him, I started to notice things."

"Like what?" Naruko asked curiously.

"It was small at first." Anko explained. "He started to pull away from the others, becoming more and more reclusive in his lab. I wasn't allowed to enter his lab so I don't know what he did down there but I knew it wasn't good. Still, I loved my sensei and I didn't want to betray his trust. But gradually I noticed how his manners started to change; he didn't teach me as much as before and he never seemed to talk to Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama anymore. At the time I figured they were having some disagreement but I didn't know about what."

"So what happened next?" Yuugao said holding Anko's hand.

"One day, we were on a mission and we encountered some Missing-Nin." Anko continued. "We fought them and quickly defeated them without killing them. Instead of taking them to Konoha however, he captured them and locked them away in a secret hide-out just outside the village. He told me to keep quiet about it and that it was our secret. I didn't understand what he was talking about at the time but later when we did the mission report, he told the Sandaime that a few of them got away and that the rest were killed. Once again, I didn't dare speak up about what truly happened."

"You were a young child Anko." Yuugao said. "You can't blame yourself for not connecting the dots. You had no way of knowing what he would do to them."

"I know but still I felt awful when I found out that he experimented on them." Anko nodded. "It happened several more times before things escalated."

"Escalated?" Haku wondered.

"People started disappearing." Anko explained. "Not just Missing-Nin but Konoha Shinobi as well. Even civilians vanished without a trace. Nobody knew what was going on and things were scary and tense. But then everything stopped and thing calmed down again. I don't know why the disappearing stopped but I think that he knew that the Sandaime had an eye on him. So for a few weeks and months nothing happened and the old sensei I loved so much started to come back. I was so relieved that I completely forgot about everything else that had been going on."

"But it got worse again didn't it?" Yuugao asked.

"Yes but my memories of what happened later are all jumbled." Anko admitted. "I only remember bits and pieces. Somehow I remember leaving Konoha with him on a training trip. I can't remember where we went but it was pretty far. What we did there I don't know."

"What do you remember?" Naruko asked worried.

"The next thing I remember is being found by ANBU on some beach." Anko said. "They took me back to Konoha and I was questioned about Orochimaru. I didn't know it at the time but it seemed that the Sandaime had confronted Orochimaru and they fought. Orochimaru got away and took me with him to who knows where. I couldn't remember anything about where we went or what we did. Even Tsunade-sama couldn't help me regain my memories. I was so scared that they would throw me in prison but the Sandaime came up to me and just hugged me saying that everything was okay and that I had done nothing wrong."

"Ji-chan is the greatest like that." Naruko smiled. "He would never hold you responsible for something that asshole did."

"I know." Anko smiled. That was the time she vowed to always be loyal to the Sandaime and be the best kunoichi she could be for Konoha's sake. "He helped me along over the next couple years until I could take care of my own again."

"So what was the dream about?" Haku wanted to know.

"I really can't say." Anko sighed. "It was like I was seeing flashes or something. I saw my younger self laying on the ground in pain. I woke up because this damn mark started hurting badly." She put her hand on the Cursed Seal on her neck. "It hurts from time to time but now it was really painful."

"Thank you for telling us, Anko-Neechan." Naruko said coming over to give the woman a hug. "Don't worry, we won't let that man hurt you again. If he come even close to you, we'll kick his butt so bad, he'll have to stand up for the rest of his miserable life."

"Thank you Naru-chan but promise me that you will never fight him." Anko said seriously. "That man is way too strong for you. Hell, he's too strong for everyone."

"He may be stronger than us now but that won't always be the case." Haku said determined. "Naruko-chan and I will be stronger than him one day and if he tries to hurt you then nothing will stop us from destroying him."

"And I'll get rid of the body." Yuugao added.

Anko just nodded tearfully and the three just grabbed her in a hug. Anko couldn't hold it anymore and she broke down crying for the first time in a very long time. She had always been strong about what happened in her past and she never let anyone know about how much she suffered. It was something that she wanted to bear on her own but now, with surrounded by her family she finally understood that she wasn't alone anymore. She had people who loved her and who would be there for her, help her when the pain became too big and stand next to her when she face her pain.

The family of four stayed in the hug for a bit longer until they saw that Anko had cried herself to sleep. They gently let go of her and Yuugao carried her to the bed after thanking the girls for being there tonight. Naruko and Haku simply nodded and gave Anko a tender kiss on the forehead before hugging Yuugao goodnight. They returned to their own bedroom and cuddled together after such an emotional night. They needed to be close to each other so they could draw comfort.

* * *

The next morning Naruko and Haku were walking to the training field where Yamato would be waiting for them. They didn't mention the events of last night as they knew all too well how the other felt about seeing Anko in such pain. While Anko seemed to be doing fine that morning, they could tell that the nightmare had scared her more than she wanted to admit. Still, she was open about it and assured them that she wouldn't hide her feelings from them.

"Good morning, you two." Yamato said.

"Morning, Yamato-sensei." Haku greeted him.

"How was your date?" Naruko asked cheekily while sporting a small grin.

"Still going on about that huh?" Yamato chuckled. "Will you drop it if I say it went fine?"

"I can do that." Naruko nodded. "For now."

"So do we have a mission today?" Haku asked changing the subject.

"As a matter of fact we do." Yamato nodded causing both girls to grin. "I already picked up the details of the mission. It's nothing major but a nice quiet C-rank mission is not too bad."

"I guess." Naruko said already disappointed a bit.

"Oh, don't make that face." Yamato laughed. "Who knows what'll happen? You can never be too sure of anything in this day and age."

"So what's the mission?" Naruko asked.

"A Missing-Nin has been sighted near the border with River Country." Yamato explained. "He's only a C-rank Missing-Nin so he shouldn't give too much trouble. Our mission is to capture him alive, if possible, and bring him back so can be questioned."

"Isn't that normally a job of the Hunter-Nin?" Haku wondered as she remembered how she and Zabuza often had to run from Hunter-Nin.

"Normally yes, but it seems their force is being stretched thin at the moment so we were asked to help them out." Yamato nodded. "As our objective is considered only a minor threat, the mission was passed to us. Also, he's to be brought back alive if possible as the families from the deceased Genin have requested to speak with him."

"Alright, let go get him then." Naruko shouted in excitement.

An hour later the trio were heading their way to the border of Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni. Haku and Naruko had never been in Kawa no Kuni so Yamato explained a bit about the history between the two bordering countries. He explained how thirty years ago Konoha and Kawa's shinobi village had been at war for several years. Now there was a peaceful corporation between the countries but things were still stretched. He also explained that the main item for exportation from Kawa no Kuni was gold. This made the country very popular for invasions as the gold recourses were very tempting to the other countries.

"So who is this Missing-Nin we're after?" Naruko asked her sensei.

"His name is Sakumoto Tatsuo." Yamato explained. "He was a Genin before he became a Missing-Nin several years ago. It's rare that a Missing-Nin is still on the loose after so much time but that's only because he's been laying low for so long."

"How did he become a Missing-Nin?" Haku asked.

"He and his team were on a mission to deliver an important document to a client." Yamato explained. "The document was a proof to seal the fusion between two families as well as a proposal to an arranged marriage between the heirs of the two families. It was a low level mission and they didn't expect any trouble. However, another family felt threatened by the fusion and hired a few Missing-Nin to intercept the document."

"So what happened?" Naruko wanted to know.

"The team was ambushed." Yamato continued. "Their Jounin-Sensei was able to hold off several of the attackers but couldn't prevent that one of his students was killed and another gravely injured. Tatsuo however ran away when he saw his teammates being killed. Faced with the remaining enemies the Jounin sensei had no choice but to let him go. Later the injured student died of her wounds but the mission was completed. The fusion of the two families went through but at a high price."

"So he's a coward then." Naruko said angry. "To leave his teammates behind like that, how despicable."

"How could he simply abandon them like that?" Haku said equally angry.

"Only he can give us that answer." Yamato said before he sped up a bit. "Let's move on, I would like to be halfway by tonight."

* * *

In Konoha, Anko was waiting outside the Hokage's office after being summoned. When she was asked to go inside she quickly did so as she didn't want to make the Hokage wait. She wasn't surprised at seeing both the Hokage and Tsunade sitting at the desk.

"Good morning Anko." The Sandaime said happily. "I trust you are well?"

"Yes Sir, thank you for asking." Anko replied respectfully. She didn't mind fooling around a bit when Naruko and Haku were around as she knew that the Sandaime adored them and let them get away with pretty much anything they said to him. "I hope you are well too?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine." The Sandaime said puffing his pipe. "Though, I could use some time off but that's neither here or there. Now we called you here because we have a mission that might interest you."

"Oh?" Anko said interested. "What kind of mission?"

"Tsunade, would you please explain the mission?" The Sandaime asked his student.

"Fine." Tsunade sighed. "You're just being lazy though. The mission pertains investigation of some rumors that have been going around about a sea monster in Umi No Kuni. You are to check these rumors and stop this 'monster'. Several ships have been destroyed and many people have been killed as well. Konoha has been asked to investigate as some of our resource come from Umi no Kuni."

While Tsunade was explaining the mission Anko was having some problems breathing. Out of nowhere came a memory that she didn't know she had. When Tsunade mentioned Umi no Kuni, she saw herself walking next to Orochimaru who was explaining that they were going on a training mission for several weeks. When the memory finished, she grimaced in pain as the cursed mark on her shoulder throbbed painfully.

"Anko, are you okay?" Tsunade asked. "You look a bit pale."

"What? Oh, sorry Tsunade-sama, I kind of drifted off." Anko quickly apologized. "Am I going alone or do I have a team with me?"

"A team will be assembled under your guidance." Sarutobi said. "They should be here any minute."

Just then someone knocked on the door and entered the room. The secretary apologized for disturbing them but said that several Genin had arrived to see the Hokage. After being told that they could enter, she left and a few second later four Genin entered the room.

"Ah here's your team now." Sarutobi smiled. "Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji. You will be accompanying Mitarashi Anko for this new mission. I expect you all to be at your best behavior for this mission."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The four nodded.

"Alright brats, meet me at the front gate in one hour." Anko told them. "Pack for several days and be well equipped for anything." Once the Genin left Anko turned back to the Sandaime and Tsunade. "Aren't these Kakashi's and Asuma's brats?"

"That's right." Tsunade answered. "However, Kakashi was needed to help out on a high-level mission and Asuma is currently working with Nara Shikamaru. That meant that their remaining Genin were left without a Sensei so we figured to use them on this mission."

"I don't care really." Anko shrugged. "As long as they do their jobs we should be fine."

"Very well, you're dismissed." Sarutobi said. "Be careful out there."

"No worries, I'll get them back safely." Anko nodded and left.

"It's not just them I'm worried about Anko." The Sandaime said softly as Anko left the room.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Tsunade asked. "You know her history with Orochimaru."

"I do and that's why I feel that she's the best for the job." The Sandaime sighed. "Naruko-chan and Haku-chan told me that Anko has been suffering from nightmares about her time with Orochimaru recently. You were there when we found her weren't you?"

"Yeah, I've never seen such a cause of amnesia before." Tsunade recalled. "Whatever happened to her over there was so traumatic her mind completely sealed of her memories to protect her sanity. She must have been through a lot."

"And that's why I sent her on this mission." Sarutobi explained. "I believe the nightmares are telling her that she's ready to uncover the truth and get her memories back. However, this could take months and could possibly wear her down. So when this mission came up, I told myself that it might be better for her to experience it all at once."

"Hopefully this won't break her." Tsunade said not completely convinced. "It will be a severe shock to her system to have all those memories back. If she can't handle them, she could very well shut down."

"It's a risk but I have confidence in Anko." The Sandaime agreed. "If this had been several years ago I would never have given this to her but this Anko is no longer the old one. This new Anko has a family and people who love her. That will be enough for her to overcome anything that might happen on this mission.

"I hope your right Sensei." Tsunade said once more.

* * *

The next morning Naruko and her team had reached the area where Sakumoto Tatsuo was rumored to be seen. Of course, he would be long gone by now but they were hopeful to find some trace of him. The small village had only a few hundred people so all of them knew each other pretty well or knew someone who knew the other.

Naruko and Haku had been tasked to talk to the person who had reported to have seen Tatsuo. The woman was a pretty brunette that had been interested in Tatsuo. Her father had wanted to check up on his daughter's chosen man and had quickly discovered that his history didn't match up. It took only a few days to find out the complete truth. The woman didn't believe her father at first and had confronted Tatsuo about his past. Tatsuo had told her to mind her own business and had slapped her in the face telling her that they were over.

"So what else did he tell you?" Haku asked the woman.

"Not much." She answered. "He threatened to have my family killed if I told anyone about what my father had found out. The next day he was gone and I haven't seen him since."

"Where do you think he might have gone?" Naruko questioned.

"I don't know." The woman said sighing. "Now that I think about it, there's a lot that I don't know about Tatsuo. He never told me anything about this family or where he came from. I never really asked about it because I thought it was a sore subject for him. You must think I'm an idiot."

"No, we don't." Haku smiled. "When you're in love, it's easy to forget about anything else. You're not an idiot, only human."

"Thank you." The woman said gratefully. "I do know one thing. Tatsuo always went to the mountains to hunt. He has a cabin there but it's really hard to reach. I've never been there because he told me it's very dangerous up there."

"He might have gone there." Naruko nodded to Haku. "If we hurry, we can still catch him."

"If you find him, can you tell him something for me?" the woman asked. Naruko and Haku both nodded. "Tell him I love him. I don't care about what he did in the past. I know he's a good man who made mistakes. Tell him I'll wait for him to return."

"I'm not sure that's wise but we'll pass the message." Naruko said offering a sad smile.

"Poor woman." Haku said when they left the village to meet up with Yamato. "She clearly loves the man a lot. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Missing-Nin are either imprisoned for life or executed depending on their crime."

"Me neither." Naruko said. "What devotion she must have to him. I'm sure she realizes somewhere that she'll never see him again. This sucks big time."

"Not all love stories end well." Haku said sadly. "I wonder what his feelings are?"

"Best not to wonder about it." Naruko said. "It's out of our hands. He needs to be caught and brought back to Konoha. What happens after that isn't up to us"

That night Yamato and the girls compared the information they had acquired. Yamato agreed that there was a big chance that Tatsuo might still be up the mountain. If he hadn't been in contact with his lover since then, he had no way of knowing that her father had alerted Konoha of his presence. Still, it would be a bad idea to climb the mountain at night. Tatsuo had the home field advantage and he had no doubt secured his cabin with traps.

"Alright, we'll wait till morning and then we'll go up the mountain." Yamato said. "Get some rest, I'm sure we'll need it tomorrow."

Naruko and Haku nodded and unfolded their sleeping bags before getting ready for bed. They had separate sleeping bags as they didn't want to sleep together in front of Yamato. He was their teacher and their friend but sleeping together was too intimate to share with him. Neither of the girls like to sleep separately from the other but this was a mission and not a sleepover.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine: sowing the seeds of doubt

Anko was not having a good time. First, the mission was bringing back some memories she had forgotten and preferred to have them stay forgotten. Secondly, her team was a disaster. The chubby Akimichi was constantly asking for a break so he could eat; the two girls were trying to impress the Uchiha with everything they could think of and said Uchiha was brooding and moody. On top of that, he kept trying to look under her skirt.

'What a difference compared to Naru-chan and Haku-chan.' Anko thought. 'At least they act like professionals.'

When Ino and Sakura started arguing again, Anko's patience ran out. She stopped mid-air and began doing some handseals. Before the Genin could even blink, all four of them were surrounded by a huge snake that hissed menacingly at them. Anko slowly made her way over to the four Genin looking very pissed off.

"Alright, here's how this is going to work." Anko said twirling a kunai on her finger. "If I hear one more peep out of you, Akimichi, I'll have my lovely snake here eat all your food in front of you. Got it."

Chouji quickly nodded his understanding not wanting to lose his precious food.

"Good." Anko then turned to the two girls. "Either the two of you stop acting like stupid little fan-girls or my snakes will be your new best friend for the remaining of this mission. And by that I mean, you'll carry them around, feed them, hell, they'll even sleep in your sleeping bag. Deal?"

Both Ino and Sakura were shaking with fear and quickly nodded not wanting to have a disgusting snake in their sleeping bag.

"And finally you." Anko said to Sasuke. "You try to look under my skirt again and I'll make sure you'll be the last Uchiha. EVER! Got it?"

Sasuke's eyes went wide when he felt the snake's head dangerously close to his special little place so he quickly nodded as well.

"Great." Anko said happily dismissing the snakes. "Now, since we lost some very precious time we'll continue to move until nightfall. Remember, one peep and you're mine to do as I please."

* * *

Naruko and Haku woke up early in the morning the next day. They had gotten plenty of sleep to recover from the trip and were now checking their equipment before they departed in search for Tatsuo. Yamato had already prepared breakfast for them so when they were done eating everyone was ready.

"Okay, time to go." Yamato said. "Remember not to underestimate him just because he's a Genin. There's lot of Genin that are much stronger than their status makes you believe. Some people simply don't want to be promoted to Chuunin or higher."

"Why not?" Naruko asked.

"Some find the responsibility not attractive or some are simply satisfied with what they have." Yamato shrugged. "Point is that there are shinobi who stay Genin their whole live but are just as strong as a Chuunin or a Jounin."

"We'll be careful." Haku nodded.

"Alright, then let's go." Yamato ordered.

The mountains were Tatsuo was rumored to have a cabin were only an hour away and so they reached them quite easily. They looked very dangerous judging from the stone tops and treacherous grounds. The sides were filled with trees making it very hard to find a good path up the mountain. Shinobi had no such trouble as they just traveled through the trees but for civilians it would be next to impossible to reach the mounting tops unharmed.

The trees were thick and the forest along the mountain became darker and darker, even on a sunny morning. Hardly any light made it past the leaves of the trees; it gave a creepy feeling to both Haku and Naruko but they pressed on. They had been in much scarier situations before so this was nothing compared to those. Still, it wasn't like they enjoyed the trip through the dark and unknown forest.

After half an hour of fast paced travel, Yamato started to slow down as he figured that they were getting close. He told the girls to be careful for any traps hidden in the trees. He had no doubt that Tatsuo had protected his little hideout with enough traps to slow down an army. His suspicions were proven correct when he noticed a trip wire just two feet away from where he was standing. He motioned to the girls and they nodded. Judging by the trap, they could tell that the maker was rather good at making them. Yamato followed the wire and saw that it was connected to a large log just over their head. If they had tripped the wire, the log would have crushed them easily.

"Not bad." Yamato said impressed. "Had I not been looking for any traps, I probably wouldn't have seen it."

"It is rather well done." Haku agreed. "Did Tatsuo's file mention any trap making skills?"

"No, nothing like that." Yamato shook his head. "But he have picked up a few things along the way."

"Well, let's not warn him that we're coming for him." Naruko said eager to get going.

"Alright, let's go but be careful." Yamato said.

As they now had to be aware of traps, they travel much slower through the trees. They had only travel several hundred feet and already they had encountered four traps. Luckily, now that they knew about the traps they were extra careful. They did however notice how meticulous and well-tuned the traps were. Obviously, Tatsuo had some hidden talent for trapmaking.

Naruko cursed softly as she felt the branch she was landing on gave way under her feet. She quickly jumped to the next branch not noticing how the fallen branch landed on another trip wire. The trap was sprung and she was bombarded with shuriken and kunai from all sides. She quickly jumped up, evading the danger only to see a huge pointed log heading straight at her. As she was in mid-air she had little or no way out and she braced herself for a lot of pain.

Yamato had seen what was going on and quickly used his Mokuton to create a wooden tentacle that grabbed Naruko and pulled her out of the way. It was close as she felt the log pass her by mere inches. When Yamato released her, Haku quickly came up to her to see if she was okay. She let out a loud sigh of relief when she saw that Naruko was unharmed.

"I didn't expect that." Naruko said breathing hard. "Not at all."

"He's good." Yamato admitted. "Better than I thought. That was a three layered trap. If the fall didn't kill you, either the shuriken or the giant toothpick would have."

"Well, I'm going to return the favor when we kick his ass." Naruko said hotly.

After that scare the trio moved even slower and paid extra attention to their surroundings. It took them another hour to get anywhere near the top where Tatsuo had his cabin. Hopefully he was still there.

The trio moved into position when the reach the end of the forest and saw the cabin underneath a cliff. It was easy to miss if you didn't know it was there but they figured that was the point. They observed for a while and saw some movement in the cabin showing them that Tatsuo was still there. Yamato used their sign language to indicate the plan. Haku was to climb the cliff side and offer support from above. With her Kekkei Genkai she could easily create some Senbon or Kunai out of ice. Once Tatsuo was out of the cabin she could then support Naruko who was to go by the front while Yamato would be watching from the sidelines. He could have helped but he wanted this to be a learning experience for the girls. If things went badly he would help them out.

Once Naruko saw that Haku was in position she put her hand in her pouch and took out several smoke-bombs. She tied them to a few kunai and launched the kunai through the windows. She didn't have to wait long before the bombs went off. Smoke filled the entire cabin and a few seconds later, her target jumped of the cabin into the fresh air. Naruko saw that she had caught him unawares as he had clearly inhaled some of the smoke. He was coughing violently, trying to breath.

"Who's there?" Tatsuo yelled when he found his breath. He didn't receive any answer but had to dodge several kunai headed his way. "Curse you, show yourself."

"Sakumoto Tatsuo, you are hereby under arrest." Naruko's voice sounded. "Surrender and come quietly."

"Like hell I will." Tatsuo roared. "I'm not going back to Konoha."

"Then you leave us no choice." Naruko said before she appeared behind him ready to hit him in the head.

Tatsuo managed to duck just in time to make Naruko miss but before he could do anything a follow up hit connected to his chest sending him backwards. Naruko wasted no time and pressed forward trying to take him out quickly. Tatsuo recovered however and managed to block the next attack. He retaliated quickly by throwing a few punches and kicks; all of which were easily blocked or evaded by Naruko. She keep pushing him back towards the cliff where Haku was waiting. She knew that her partner would see what she was doing and would be ready to attack as well.

When Haku saw what Naruko was planning she prepared herself. Silently she created her Hyoton sword and waited for the right time. When Tatsuo was just the right distance from the cliff she ran down and tried to catch him off guard. To her surprise however Tatsuo seemed to have noticed her and he turned around in time to see her coming. He managed to dodge most of the attack but Haku was still able to cut his arm up with a slight cut.

"Damn you, why are you after me?" Tatsuo yelled. "I've done nothing wrong. Just leave me in peace."

"You know that's not possible." Naruko shook her head. "You're a Missing-Nin of Konoha. You know our laws."

"I'm just a Genin." Tatsuo tried to reason. "I'm nobody. I'm not worth your time or effort."

"Not our decision." Haku said. "You ran away from a mission, endangering your teammates resulting in their death. You abandoned them."

"I was afraid okay?" Tatsuo sighed. "I know what I did was wrong but I was so freaking scared. I was only a child at the time; I did the first thing that came up in my head."

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid." Naruko answered. "But what you did was wrong and it cost the lives of two people. You need to take responsibility."

"I'm not going back." Tatsuo said. "Doton: Doryudan no Jutsu"

Haku and Naruko watched as a dragon made of earth and mud came barreling down at them. They separately quickly and evaded the attack. Naruko jumped to her right while Haku dodged to the left. The dragon of mud harmlessly passed by them. Tatsuo cursed at the missed chance to take his attackers out but continued to press his attack. Haku stopped his attack as she used her Kekkei Genkai to make some Hyoton Senbon and forced him to make some handseals. Tatsuo slammed his hand onto the ground and a wall of mud rose from the ground and protected him from the senbon. He smirked at the failed attack. He laughed when he heard some shuriken and kunai hit the wall and boasted that no such attacks would work on him.

Naruko didn't say anything but took out another six kunai and held them in her hands. Before she threw them however she coated them with Raiton Chakra. The simple kunai were now several inch longer and she threw them as hard as she could at the wall.

Tatsuo didn't expect the kunai to fly straight through his defense and didn't have the time to dodge the kunai. Two nicked him in his left arm and leg while another embedded itself deeply into his shoulder. He screamed out in pain and he lost his concentration making the earth wall fall. He yanked out the kunai and started cursing as he held his bleeding shoulder.

"How?" Tatsuo asked stunned. "Nothing got past my earth wall before."

"Simple. Earth is weak to Lightning." Naruko explained.

Tatsuo had no time to respond as Haku came in from his right and kicked him straight in the face. Tatsuo was sent flying but managed to land on his feet. He failed to see Haku's smile as he landed exactly where she wanted him. She concentrated and around Tatsuo a cage of ice formed almost instantly. Before he realized what was happening, Tatsuo was caught with no way out.

"Naruko-chan, now!" Haku yelled quickly.

"You got it." Naruko nodded and she ran through some handseals. Once the handseals were done, Raiton Chakra formed around her hand and she grasped it tightly before throwing her arm back. "Sorry about this but this is the end for you."

Tatsuo watched in horror as the kunoichi threw the Raiton Chakra his way. The second the chakra left Naruko's hand it transformed into a small dragon. He knew that there was no way to dodge the attack so he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to hit him. His screams sounded through the mountain as he was almost electrocuted. When the cage of ice broke, Tatsuo was laying on the ground.

Yamato appeared next to him and checked his vitals. When he felt the man's heart beat, he smiled to himself. For a moment he thought that the attack would have killed him but it seemed Naruko had held back enough to allow him to live.

"Well done, you two." Yamato said. "I take it you held back on that last attack?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to kill him as we were supposed to take him back alive." Naruko nodded.

"Well, let's seal him up and then we can get home." Yamato said.

"Just a second, Yamato-sensei." Haku said as she saw Tatsuo regaining conscience. "We have a message from the woman in the village. She says she loves you and will wait for you to return."

Tatsuo just groaned his understanding and closed his eyes again. He was in too much pain to do anything else and he knew that there was little or no chance he would ever see his girl again. He regretted what he done and how he had lied to her about his past. If he had come clean from the beginning then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. He had only himself to blame though.

* * *

Anko was finally able to relax. The mission to find out about the so called sea monster had ended better then she had expected. It wasn't a walk in the park however and several time she had cursed herself for taking the mission. Not that it was especially dangerous or something but it had been a rollercoaster of emotions and frustrations.

First she had several flashbacks to her time with Orochimaru and that alone was enough to throw her for a loop. She distinctively remembered coming to the islands before with that bastard but other than that she didn't remember anything. Until she met that strange girl called Isaribi. When she saw the bandaged girl jump out of the water, transformed into something she had only caught a glimpse of before, her mind crashed. Dozens of repressed memories came back and she fainted.

When she regained consciousness however, she hadn't felt this good in years. When she and her team infiltrated the base, they discovered that one of Orochimaru's subjects called Amachi was still conducting human experiments. The group had then split up to find whatever information they could find about Orochimaru and Amachi. Anko went on her own while the Genin were to stay together.

Anko had been furious as she remembered the man from all those years ago. It was obvious that Isaribi was only helping the man so she could become human again. Anko however knew that he and Orochimaru were the ones who caused her transformation in the first place. Things had gone to shit when Anko felt a huge explosion destroy the base from the inside out and she hurried to the point of origin.

She found Sasuke facing of Amachi, while Chouji was having trouble fighting two other shinobi she recognized from the Chuunin Exams. Seeing that Sasuke was holding his own, she quickly went to help out Chouji. The two opposing shinobi were strong but were no match for Anko and she quickly killed Misumi with a kunai to the back of his head. This seemed to piss off the other one however as he went on a rampage. Anko ordered Chouji and Sasuke to take the unconscious girls and get the hell out of the base.

They had barely made it out of there before the whole base collapsed bringing part of the mountain with it. They had lost sight of Amachi and his crew but Anko knew where they were headed. A ship carrying large amounts of gold was scheduled to pass and Amachi wouldn't be able to let this pass without trying his hand at seizing the gold.

Seeing that Ino and Sakura were unconscious, Anko and the two boys when to fight Amachi. Sasuke and Chouji partnered together to defeat Yoroi while Anko faced Amachi. She was shocked when he transformed like Isaribi but even then he had no chance in defeating her. Had this been the old Anko, she might have had some trouble but after training for so long with Naruko, Haku and Yuugao the man was easily defeated. When he tried to summon his monster, Anko simple knocked him out before he had even finished his first few handseals. Yoroi was easily defeated by Sasuke and Chouji and thus the mission was a success.

Later on Anko wandered around on the island until she came across the small settlement where she and Orochimaru used to stay. When she finally remembered how she was given the curse seal and how she rejected Orochimaru's offer to join them, tears were running down her cheeks from happiness. She finally remembered how she had made her own choice to refuse her sensei. She chose not to join him because she finally understood how evil the man had become. A huge weight was lifted of her heart and mind and for the first time since the nightmares had started again, she smiled wholeheartedly.

The trip back to Konoha had been very quiet but only because Anko had threatened to use them as her personal training post if they gave as much as a peep. Frankly she had quite enough of the kids. The two kunoichi were bickering again about their precious Sasuke-kun; said Uchiha was brooding and pissed about who knew what and the fat kid was munching on whatever he had packed away. So instead of dealing with all of that she simply used threats to have some peace and quiet. Isaribi who had come along to get help from Tsunade was pretty much okay, she kept to herself and didn't bother anyone, which was just the way Anko liked it.

After dropping of Amachi at the prison, getting Isaribi to the hospital and giving the Sandaime the mission report Anko was finally heading home. She longed to see Yuugao and the girls and tell them what she had encountered. When she opened the door she smiled as she heard the voices of the three most important people in her life.

"I'm home." Anko yelled as she took of her shoes.

"Welcome home." Yuugao said as she came over. She kissed her lover with passion and hugged her close. "I've missed you."

"Me too." Anko said giving Yuugao another kiss. "I've got so much to tell you all."

"Like what." Naruko asked from where she was sitting on Haku's lap.

"Let me tell what happened." Anko started her story. An hour later, when she was finally done with her story, she let the others ask questions and comments. Of course, the three of them were very happy that Anko had made peace with her past and they could tell that their lover and sister felt much better. "It was a pain to work with those four but it was so worth it."

"What? You didn't like them?" Naruko said grinning.

"Please, if I ever have to work with them again it will be too soon." Anko snorted. "I admit, they have their talents. The Uchiha is pretty strong for his age and he could go very far. If only he lightened up a little. I swear, I haven't seen any expression except a frown on his face."

"He was like that in the academy as well." Naruko nodded.

"The Akamichi wasn't a total loss but he has some serious issues with confidence." Anko continued. "He constantly let himself be pushed around by the Yamanaka. Not once did he stand up for himself. Not at all like his father, that one."

"Chouji relies too much on Shikamaru." Naruko said. "They're best friends and they work well together. They make a great team but yeah, Ino bosses them both around a little too much."

"Oh don't get me started on those two girls." Anko sighed. "It was pathetic. I would have thought that they would have improved from what we've seen in the preliminary rounds of the Chuunin exams but they still suck. I can tell they've been training but they're still ages away from you two. And the constant vying for the Uchiha's attention is maddening."

"They'll grow out of it soon enough." Yuugao reassured them.

"I don't know Yuu-chan." Anko said shaking her head. "They need a good kick in the pants and soon. At this rate they are going to get themselves killed sooner or later."

"Let Kakashi and Asuma know and then it's up to them to train them." Yuugao shrugged. "Now, it's getting late and I've missed you so we're going to bed. Are you coming?"

"Right behind you." Anko said with a grin on her face. "Get your earmuffs ready girls, because it's going to get loud."

"Anko-neechan." Both Haku and Naruko yelled embarrassed.

* * *

At the other side of Konoha, Sasuke was sitting in his apartment thinking about the last mission. Not that it was so important but about what had happened when he had been facing Amachi alone. Ino and Sakura had been knocked out pretty quickly, not that he was surprised by that, and Chouji was fighting the two other shinobi. So he faced the mad scientist on his own.

_Flashback_

"_Well, if it isn't the last Uchiha." Amachi said demeaning. "You don't look like much for an Uchiha."_

"_Shut up." Sasuke said glaring. "Don't underestimate an Uchiha in battle."_

"_Yes, that's what they say isn't it." Amachi laughed. "However, you don't scare me. I know all about the Uchiha and the feared Sharingan. I've studied your clan for many years, you know?"_

"_So you know how strong an Uchiha can truly be." Sasuke smirked. _

"_Strong?" Amachi chuckled. "Boy, you have no idea what being strong means. Look at you, you're barely a Genin. There are dozens of shinobi who became Chuunin or even Jounin at your age. You're nothing compared to some of them."_

"_Rank doesn't mean anything." Sasuke fired back but he could keep the resentment and jealousy out of his voice._

"_Oh, hit a nerve did I?" Amachi asked. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure Konoha will allow you to grow stronger one day. They can only hold you back for so long."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke shouted._

"_Oh my, are you telling me that you haven't noticed it?" Amachi laughed. "It's clear as day to others like me. Konoha is holding you back because they are afraid you'll grow too strong. They fear that if you grow too strong they won't be able to stop you if you would somehow turn against them. It's the curse of every powerful shinobi."_

"_Turn against Konoha?" Sasuke repeated not understanding._

"_Like your brother." Amachi shrugged. _

"_How do you know about Itachi?" Sasuke roared._

"_Everyone knows about Itachi and what he did." The mad doctor laughed. "It's not exactly a secret is it? If someone as good as him can turn on the village and massacre an entire clan of the strongest shinobi in the village, well, can you blame them that they fear you would do the same one day? It's only natural they're scared of what you may become."_

"_I will never become like him." Sasuke denied._

"_So you say now." Amachi answered. "However, that doesn't change the fact that Konoha is holding you back."_

"_Holding me back how?" Sasuke asked but he knew he had been thinking the same thing for some time now._

"_For one thing, they got you the laziest Jounin as a Sensei." Amachi explained. "Oh sure, Hatake Kakashi is one of the strongest shinobi of Konoha but how much has he truly taught you?" As Sasuke remained silent he continued. "Judging by your lack of response not too much. He could have taught you dozens of Jutsu but he didn't. Why? Surely for someone with your talent and drive there should be plenty he could show you."_

"_He taught me the Chidori" Sasuke countered._

"_Oh please, he taught you one move." Amachi yelled. "One move and that's it. The man is rumored to have copied a thousand Jutsu with his Sharingan. But no matter, let's move on. You participated in the Chuunin exams right?" Sasuke nodded. "I heard you fought pretty well in your match and in the invasion afterwards but no promotion huh?"_

"_No." Sasuke simply answered._

"_While others from your class were promoted ahead of the exams and one afterwards." Amachi smiled. "So now you're still a Genin and doing stupid missions that don't teach you anything or are hardly worthy of your time. Konoha keeps you busy with these missions so you waste time. Time that you could be training to defeat Itachi."_

"_Even if that's true there's not much I can do about it." Sasuke glared at the man._

"_That's where you're wrong." Amachi said. "There's a man. A man with unrivaled power and knowledge; he could teach you all you need to know to become stronger than anyone in Konoha. Including your brother."_

"_Who?" Sasuke asked._

"_Orochimaru-sama." Amachi answered._

"_Him?" Sasuke snorted. "I've heard about him before." He recalled the time he and the others were told to patrol the Konoha prison and how Mizuki talked about the snake Sannin. "He almost got himself killed trying to fight the Sandaime. He barely got away with his life and had to escape Konoha."_

"_Silence, you insolent whelp." Amachi roared. "You know nothing about Orochimaru-sama's greatness. He has surpassed all of us on his quest to become the strongest of all shinobi."_

"_And yet he couldn't kill an old man." Sasuke smirked._

"_You think the Sandaime is a weak old fool?" Amachi snorted. "You know nothing of the real world. The Sandaime has been in two major wars and has fought hundreds if not thousands of shinobi in his prime and had defeated all of them. He's without a doubt one of the strongest shinobi ever lived; even at the ripe age of nearly seventy years old. There's no way a man like that would fall easily. However, if he had faced Orochimaru-sama on his own without the help of Jiraiya and Tsunade, there's no doubt that he would have died in battle that very day."_

"_Why are you telling me all of this?" Sasuke asked._

"_Orochimaru-sama is always looking for talented people to join him." Amachi explained. "I'm sure he would welcome you into his midst and give you the power you so desperately need and seek. I'll bet you anything that he could made you strong enough to defeat your brother within the next two years."_

"_At the cost of betraying my village." Sasuke yelled._

"_So what? What has the village done to help you?" Amachi yelled back. "You know better than anyone how the Uchiha were present at the very foundation of Konoha together with the Senju clan. Yet where did that leave them? Oh right, they were put into a large estate just at the border of Konoha. Forced to become the police force of Konoha. Quite a fall from grace don't you think? The Uchiha name used to bring fear to their enemies and respect from their allies. What's left of the Uchiha name now? Where was Konoha when your brother slaughtered your entire clan? Where were they when he killed your parents?"_

"_I…" Sasuke tried to say._

End Flashback

Just then a large explosion sounded through the base and before they could continue their conversation Anko had rushed into the room. Both Sasuke and Amachi knew that the time for talking was over so they started their fight until they had to retreat to safety. However, Amachi's words continued to sound in his mind and he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.

"Could I leave Konoha to become stronger?" Sasuke asked himself before he looked out the window. He started at the direction of the Uchiha district before he unconsciously activated his Sharingan. "Yes! No matter what I have to do, I'll become strong enough to kill Itachi and nobody will stand in my way."

Sasuke then turned to his bedroom and got ready for bed. There was no point in stressing about the matter. He knew he couldn't just leave Konoha like that; if he did he would be hunted down and brought back for sure. No, he needed to wait the right time. He would disappear when his sensei and the rest weren't looking in his direction. It might take a while longer but no matter; while he was here he would take the time to learn whatever he could and when the time was right, he would be long gone before they even knew he'd left.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Forty: Team-building

Tsunade was getting frustrated when she walked into the Hokage tower. It had only been a few weeks since the Sandaime had announced his intentions of retiring once more and while she couldn't blame the man for wanting some peace and quiet after serving Konoha for all these years, she resented the fact that she got roped into the position of Hokage.

She knew she was the right person for the job. There was simply no one else available at this time. Sure, there might be some good candidates for the position but none seemed right to her. Other than her, she could only see two people becoming Hokage. First one was Danzo and she shivered at the thought of that man become the leader of the village her Grandfather had helped build. That man was quite the opposite of everything that a Hokage should be.

She knew he was strong. To be called the biggest rival of Sarutobi Hiruzen since their Academy days was no easy feat. They had grown up together and fought during two wars and survived to tell the tale. He was definitely not someone you wanted to underestimate; either in battle or anywhere else for that matter. She understand that he cared greatly for Konoha but his ways were too brutal for her. She had no doubt that everything he had done had been for Konoha but the man simply put her on her toes. If Danzo became Hokage, Konoha and the rest of the Shinobi world would be plunged into darkness within the year. The man seem to think that the only way for Konoha to survive was to kill off all opponents and threats. Only that would mean, a new war or even several wars until nothing remained. Definitely not what she wanted for Konoha.

The second was Hatake Kakashi. The son of one of Konoha's greatest heroes, Hatake Sakumo or at least until his death. Star pupil of Namikaze Minato and renowned shinobi in most if not all of the Elemental Lands. Thanks to his use of the Sharingan, he had mastered over a thousand Jutsu and become a force to be reckoned with. The man was not only an excellent shinobi he was smart, cunning and quick on his feet.

However, he was also lazy and somewhat aloof. He, just like her before, was stuck in the past and while strong, he simply didn't have the presence that a Hokage needed. Besides the man was better in the field than being locked in a stuffy office all day. He could do a lot more good training the next generation. Besides, she doubted Kakashi would have accepted to post of Hokage to begin with.

So, she was the only remaining candidate to become Hokage. She had no doubt the Jounin Council and the Daimyo would accept her as the leader of Konoha. After all, she was Senju Tsunade; last remaining direct descendent of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage and not to mention the best Medic-Nin everywhere. She was a bit sad that she would have to leave the hospital but she had no doubt Shizune and the rest of the staff would do a great job continuing her work. She had been trying to reform the education of the Medic-Nin and she was proud to say that things were going great.

A lot of shinobi and Kunoichi were interested in becoming Medic-Nin and her program was slowly but surely showing results. The number of aspirant Medic-Nin had nearly tripled since she started her reforms. That was a huge increase and very welcome as training a Medic-Nin took years and years to achieve. However, things looked good for now and she was positive than within the next year, Konoha would have its first graduates as Genin Medic-Nin who would be better trained then some of the higher level Medic-Nin of now.

As she walked into the office where the Sandaime was waiting for her she noticed that her sensei was not alone. She scowled as she saw Danzo, Homura and Koharu sitting there as well. She really didn't like them as they always thought they knew better than everyone else.

"Tsunade, always a pleasure to see you." Danzo said looking at her.

"Danzo." Tsunade simply greeted. "What brings you three to see Sarutobi-Sensei?"

"We have been hearing some interesting rumors." Koharu said turning back to the Sandaime. "Rumors about you planning to retire."

"Is that so?" the Sandaime said lighting his pipe. "And where have you heard these rumors? I would be very interested to know how you came across this information."

"Where we heard it isn't important." Homura interrupted. "Is it true?"

"Very well, I was planning to announce it a bit later but it seems the word is out already." Sarutobi sighed. "Yes, I will retire at the end of this year. I have served Konoha for a long time and I believe it's time for me to pass on the leadership of this village to a greener leaf once more."

"You have found a successor already?" Danzo narrowed his remaining eye. "Who?"

"Tsunade." Sarutobi grinned.

"Impossible, you would accept to become our Hokage?" Koharu and Homura asked shocked. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with being Hokage."

"A few months back you would have been right." Tsunade said walking around the desk to stand next to her sensei. "However, sometimes we simply don't have another choice. At this moment I'm the only one that's right for the job. I don't see who else could possible become Hokage other than me." She smirked at Danzo as she saw the tiny glimpse of anger on his face. She didn't press further though as she didn't want to give the man a reason to hate her even more. "I will take over from sensei and he will continue to advise me for the next two years. That was our deal."

"And I shall honor my commitment." Sarutobi nodded. "over the next few months, Tsunade will slowly take over my duties and I will tell the village of my retirement by the end of the fall season. I have no doubt the people of Konoha will be overjoyed to have Tsunade as their Hokage. She will rule them well."

"Very well." Koharu said. "I don't have any objection."

"It's not that you could have stopped it." Tsunade said. "Understand one thing very well, I will not be pushed around by anyone. If you stand in my way and if I find that you endanger Konoha, it's shinobi and its civilians in any way I will not think twice to have you arrested."

"What are you accusing us of?" Danzo said angrily.

"I'm not accusing you of anything." Tsunade bit back. "I'm warning you that's all. I value your experience and your advice at all times but do not presume that you can threaten me or use my inexperience to force me into something. Sarutobi-sensei may have been my teacher but I'm not him. I'll do things my way and how I see fit."

"As is her right." Sarutobi agreed. "We, as the most experienced ones, can only offer our knowledge and guide her but sooner or later she will have to run things on her own. We are but relics of the past and we must let the younger generation run things their way."

"Like I said, your experience and advice is welcome at all times." Tsunade nodded. "In fact I welcome it but in the end the decisions are mine and mine alone. I will not allow any insubordination from my people."

"I can see you have taught her well." Danzo said looking at Sarutobi. "She will be a fine Hokage. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business that needs my attention."

"Very well, you are dismissed." The Sandaime said to his three oldest friends.

Once the three left the office, Tsunade relaxed and sat down in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Danzo seemed quite supportive in the end." Tsunade said.

"Do not underestimate that man, Tsunade." Sarutobi warned her. "He's more crafty than anyone else in this village. The only reason he seemed to be accept you is because he knew that there was no way of winning this battle. He'll be back sooner or later and that's when we'll need to be careful."

"No worries." Tsunade nodded. "I have no intention of letting him get anything past me. I know all too well what that man is capable of. In fact, if I wasn't completely sure that he's loyal to Konoha, I would have him arrested on the spot."

"Danzo has done a lot of things for Konoha." Sarutobi sighed. "Things that have kept Konoha save from harm for many years. You might think that he's evil but in the end all he cares about is Konoha and its survival. Without him Konoha might have fallen a long time ago."

"Still doesn't mean he should go around unchecked." Tsunade argued. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that."

"I agree." Sarutobi said. "For now though let's move on. There's much to do and little time to do it in."

Here Tsunade sighed loudly making Sarutobi chuckle. He knew the feeling all too well. He grabbed the first piece of paper and started his explanations of what was needed to be done. It was the first of many and he knew that by the end of the day, Tsunade would be one pissed off kunoichi.

* * *

Naruko and Haku had been having a few days off as they had been completing mission after mission ever since their team had reformed. So in order to prevent them from having a burnout sooner or later, they were given the week off. Both of the girls had only been too happy to accept the vacation and they took full advantage of it.

The first two days they had done nothing but laze around together. They enjoyed the fact that they could simply spend some time together without having to worry when the next mission would come. They walked around Konoha and went shopping together with Anko and Yuugao; went on a few romantic dates and just had fun.

After those first few days however, they had enough of doing nothing so they started training a bit. Nothing much, just enough to keep their skills up and work on some techniques that needed some work. Naruko worked solely on her Fuuton and Raiton control while Haku focused more on her Kekkei Genkai. Both had made impressive progress but still felt like they could achieve more.

Today however they were invited to join the training of Team Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten. For the past few weeks these four teams had been having training sessions together in order to get to know one another better and to form some cohesive group that had no trouble working together. At least that was in theory. In real life however things didn't work out that well between the several teams for several reasons. One of them was the simple fact that each time had one or two Genin with explosive characters.

Team Seven had both Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. The first was a genius and without a doubt one of the most talented Genin of his generation but that made him somewhat arrogant and he had a bit of the well known 'holier than thou' attitude. Combined with his desire for power and his inability to accept or acknowledge those weaker than him, and you had one unstable Genin.

Haruno Sakura was a kunoichi with loads of potential but which she had only started to use recently. For years she had been a simple fangirl of the Uchiha and had done little or no serious training. It took a rude wakeup call from Yuugao to see how far she was behind Naruko or Haku. While the girl had started training seriously, she was still nowhere near as strong as she could have been.

Team Eight was somewhat better off. They at least worked fairly well together and it showed in their accomplishments. Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba seemed to have understood the concept of teamwork. That was not to say that they didn't have their own set of problems. Hinata was a sweet girl and very shy, which resulted in her being afraid to speak up and give her opinion on matters. She was a follower and usually just went along with what Kiba or Shino wanted. It also showed in her performance as she had so little self-esteem and confidence that it slowed her progress.

Aburame Shino was a calculating, silent type of guy. He was the voice of reason of the group and most of the time the brain as well. He was the one to gently push Hinata into becoming more confident and trying to rein in Kiba.

Kiba was the brash type of guy; one who preferred action above words. He was loud and boisterous but when needed to, he could be counted on. He and his partner Akamaru were the epitome of teamwork. They lived, ate and slept together from the day they had chosen each other as companions. From the day Akamaru was just a small puppy and until the day either of them died, be it in battle or from old age, they would be together. The Inuzuka Ninjutsu were recognized throughout Konoha as one of the toughest out there. Though Kiba was still young, he and Akamaru were talented and had already mastered several techniques.

Team Ten, under leadership of Sarutobi Asuma, was another team of Genin that Naruko had graduated with. The three members, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino were put together as a team mainly because their parents were a team of legend. The Ino-Shika-Chou team were almost a tradition and so they formed the new Team Ten.

Shikamaru was every bit as intelligent as his father was but unfortunately he was also as lazy as his old man. The boy had zero motivation and preferred to watch the clouds and relax. He was the only one who had been promoted to Chuunin outside of Naruko and Haku. He wasn't all too pleased about it but he obviously couldn't refuse the promotion. He had been promoted mostly because of his intelligence and tactical prowess but he had been training with his father in the Nara techniques for a while now. Still he was a lazy person first.

Yamanaka Ino was the self-proclaimed rival of Haruno Sakura with both of they trying to get Sasuke to like them. She was a bossy type of girl and she could completely control both Chouji and Shikamaru when she wanted or needed to. She was pretty weak, as just like Sakura she had been too busy trying to impress Sasuke instead of training. She knew some her family techniques but nothing special as she was still too young to learn the truly advanced jutsu.

Team Nine had Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji and TenTen and were a year older than the other Genin. They had been taught by none other than Maito Gai, the eternal rival of Kakashi. They had gotten to know each other during the Chuunin Exams and afterwards Naruko and Haku had gotten to know them a bit better as well. They mostly got along fine with Lee and TenTen but they hardly ever talked to Neji.

Rock Lee was a carbon copy of Gai and only used Taijutsu. Naruko and Haku knew how devastatingly powerful Lee was when he let loose so they had nothing but respect for him. Even if he was somewhat of a weirdo. They knew he trained more and longer than everyone else so he could prove that he could be a great shinobi even if he only used Taijutsu.

TenTen was amongst the strongest Kunoichi in her generation. She was much more serious about her shinobi career than most girls her age and it showed every time she faced Ino or Sakura. TenTen was a weapons specialist and a long range fighter which made it very hard for anyone to get close to her. She was easy going and got along pretty well with anyone in the group. She liked Naruko and Haku best as they were already on their way to become strong kunoichi that wouldn't lose to anyone.

Neji was the resident genius of Team Nine. He was without a doubt the strongest overall fighter of all the Genin assembled. Unfortunately his arrogant behavior and his tendency to bring in fate and destiny into every conversation made him somewhat unpopular with the rest. He was distant and seemed not to care about anything others did. He also had a fierce dislike of Hinata for some reason but he never talked about it. If he was cold and distant to the rest than his attitude towards the shy Hyuuga girl was absolutely freezing. The only reason he played nice was because his sensei had ordered him too and even then it was clearly obvious that Neji didn't like it.

"Alright, welcome everyone." Asuma Sarutobi said. "Like we have done over the past few weeks, we'll start out with some condition training before we move on to sparring. So please follow Gai and start your exercises."

Everyone but Lee groaned at the idea of having to follow Gai for the training. By now they all know how crazy the man could be when it came to training and they feared for whatever exercise he had come up with now. Last time he had them doing laps with several weights on and they weren't allowed to take them off until the end of the day. Needless to say that everyone was sore as hell the next day. Except Lee of course but that was a given.

Naruko and Haku hang back at the end of the group and managed to follow Gai's exercises without too much trouble. Gai might have been a maniac when it came to pushing himself to his very limits but he had nothing on the combined forces of Yuugao, Anko, Yamato and Jiraiya's training schedule. Those four were even worse but it had proven to get results as they felt themselves becoming stronger each day.

"Yosh, those were some very youthful warming-up exercises." Lee shouted. "Gai-sensei, can we please proceed?"

"Easy Lee." Gai chuckled at the enthusiasm of his student. "You must consider your fellow teammates who aren't used to our training. They have come a long way but they still need some guidance. For now let's move on to the next part of our training. Everyone get in line and we shall continue. The next exercise is to test your speed. It's exactly a quarter mile from here to the edge of the forest, your exercise is to run back and forth as quickly as possible."

Most of them groaned but figured it could be worse than that. At least until they heard Gai's last words.

"Wearing these weights of on your arms and legs." The man finished unsealing a bunch of training weights from a scroll. "Not to worry, my youthful companions, these only weigh 7 pounds apiece."

Naruko, Haku and Lee chuckled at hearing the groans of the group of Genin behind them. For those three these weights were nothing as they had long surpassed that. Still, they slipped on the weights and got ready for the race. Gai then explained that they would have several races. First was an individual race to see who was the fastest; then there would be a team race where half of the group would run and return to tag the next group so they could run and finally a race where the Jounin Sensei would try to hinder them in order to stop them from reaching the forest.

Naruko and Haku actually thought this could be great fun and they were already glaring at each other in a competitive way. Just because they were best friends and in a relationship didn't mean that they weren't rivals of some sort. They enjoyed their little competitions and they would always try to outdo the other. However, they never let it come between them and they used these challenges to get better.

"Alright, on your marks." Gai shouted. "GO!"

Two hours later everyone fell down on the ground exhausted. What Gai had forgotten to mention was that there were five sets of each race before moving on to the next one. Still, the exercise had been a lot more fun than they expected and they had quite a few laughs. Especially when Shikamaru was bullied into running faster by Ino or when Chouji refused to run anymore until he had been fed because he swore that his body was shutting down from all the running.

A fierce competition had been made when Sasuke, Kiba, Naruko, Haku, TenTen and Lee had started challenging each other. No one could beat Lee but the rest were more equally matched. Even Neji had been drawn into the competition so that should show how serious things got. Shino, Hinata, Sakura and Ino were less competitive than the others but still managed to get pulled into the race.

"Excellent work, everyone." Kurenai said. "We'll take a small break now so rest up. You're free to get something to eat or drink but be back here in half an hour."

Everyone nodded and the group dissipated into small groups. While some of them went to sit down and nap, other left the training area to get some refreshments. Naruko and Haku stayed at the training area however and walked up to where the Jounin Sensei were sitting.

"Hi Naruko-chan, Haku-Chan is something wrong?" Kurenai asked.

"Nothing's wrong Sensei, we just wanted to know what the rest of the day would be like." Naruko asked politely. "It's the first time we joined so…"

"Ah yes, well after the break we'll move on to some smaller exercises." Kurenai explained. "First we'll do some Chakra control. This includes Tree-Walking and Water-Walking and some other more advanced exercises. Once that's done we'll focus on some weapon training before moving on some sparring. After that, we mostly help if you questions but you're free to go if you want."

"Sounds great." Haku said impressed.

"No Ninjutsu training?" Naruko asked surprised.

"Not for the whole group but if needed we can help if you have troubles with Ninjutsu." Kakashi said. "We wanted to wait a bit longer before teaching them more Ninjutsu. As Genin it's more important for them to get the basics right. I know some of them want more advanced training but they're just not ready for that."

"We're the same age but we learn more Ninjutsu with Yamato-Sensei." Naruko frowned.

"Ah but you two are Chuunin already." Yamato said. "The missions we do are much riskier than theirs. We're also sure to encounter enemy shinobi in each mission while Genin usually don't have that risk. I'm not saying it never happened before but the chances are low."

"Still, having some extra Jutsu in their arsenal couldn't hurt." Haku agreed with Naruko.

"Don't worry, we think they're almost at the level we want them." Asuma interjected. "Once we're satisfied with their level then we'll move on to Ninjutsu. Besides most of them are from major clans and have learned several clan related Jutsu already."

"So how are you two doing?" Kurenai asked the girls. "You've been the talk of the town for quite some time now. What is it again they call you girls?"

"Naruko is the 'Raiton Megami'" Haku chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me 'Hyouton Hime'" Naruko glared playfully.

"Quite a reputation you two managed to get in such a short time." Kakashi smiled. "It speaks big of your talents and abilities."

"It also give us more unwanted attention." Naruko sighed. "Ji-chan and Tsunade-Baachan have to restrict us to one mission at a time as they receive requests daily. And with Akatsuki out there, these names aren't exactly helpful to stay off the radar."

"I know but look at it this way; the more missions you get to do, the more experience you two get." Kurenai nodded. "Experience is just as valuable as Jutsu, intelligence and strength. Experience is what decides the battle when two opponents are equal in anything else."

"Kurenai is right." Yamato said. "Your reputations are somewhat of a hassle but they also bring Konoha extra missions and jobs. You're both inspiring Kunoichi and you've shown to many others what a real shinobi is like. You can be proud of yourselves."

"Well, when you say it like that." Naruko grinned. "I guess it's not the worst thing in the world to be a little famous. Besides, the attention I get now is much better than the glares and scowls I used to get. So, that's one positive point."

"Naruko-chan, do you blame the people of Konoha?" Kurenai asked softly.

"I used to." Naruko whispered. "But not anymore."

"What changed?" Asuma asked.

"I met Yuugao-neechan and Anko-neechan." Naruko smiled. "They together with Ji-chan and later Haku-chan and everyone that became my friend and fellow shinobi. I won't lie and say that I wasn't hurt or angry but I'm mostly over it. The worst was not knowing why people disliked me; I always thought I did something wrong or perhaps my parents were evil people but Ji-chan set me straight. He told me that it wasn't my fault and that one day the people of Konoha would come to like and respect me if I kept trying."

"I don't think I've ever thanked you for what you're doing each and every day." Kurenai said getting up. "Thank you for protecting all of us." She then hugged Naruko closely.

"You don't have to thank me Kurenai-Sensei but I appreciate it all the same." Naruko said embarrassed. "The Yondaime Hokage entrusted me with the task of keeping the Kyuubi from destroying Konoha and I swore to Ji-chan that it will never get free as long as I live."

"Which had better be for a very long time." Haku said. "With me."

"Of course." Naruko nodded.

The rest of the break went pretty fast and soon everyone was ready to start training again. Like Kurenai had explained they worked on Chakra control and Weapon training. It was pretty intense but Naruko and Haku enjoyed it. But the sparring was the part they looked forward to the most. When Kakashi and Asuma divided the group into two so they could monitor them, Haku and Naruko were separated but they didn't mind. They sparred enough during their regular training so it would be interesting to spar with some other people.

"Alright, gather around." Asuma called. "First match will be Shino versus Ino; second match is Lee versus Shikamaru and final match is Sasuke versus Naruko"

"On our side is Sakura versus Chouji; Kiba versus Haku, Neji versus TenTen and Hinata will face anyone who still got something left." Kakashi announced. "Now these are sparring matches so no Kekkei Genkai allowed nor Ninjutsu. Only Taijutsu and weapons are allowed. Also, no attacks that can seriously hurt your opponent. Remember, these spars are to get used to fighting different types of enemies and to learn and get experience."

"Needless to say is that if you break the rules, you will regret it." Gai said seriously. "All of us Jounin Sensei will observe and after the match we will give you pointers to work on."

"Let's get started." Kakashi said.

Naruko and Haku watched as their fellow shinobi faced off against each other and tried to see what the level of the spars were. They knew however that the spars were no realistic representation of their strength as the conditions for the spars were very restricted. Not being allowed to use a Kekkei Genkai or Ninjutsu severely weakened some shinobi. As Haku prepared to face Kiba, Naruko turned her attention to the other group. She knew that Kiba was strong in terms of power but he had no idea who he was facing.

"Alright, I finally get to fight you." Kiba cheered.

"Remember that this is a spar Kiba, not a fight." Kakashi frowned. "Remember the rules."

"I got it, don't worry." Kiba nodded.

"Kakashi-Sensei, I have a question before we start." Haku asked. She continued when Kakashi nodded. "Would me using my Hyouton sword be considered as using my Kekkei Genkai?"

"Hmm, while it's indeed a weapon it's also made by your Kekkei Genkai so yes I'm afraid it does." Kakashi said after thinking about it.

"Okay, no problem I just wanted to be sure." Haku smiled. "I don't want to lose the spar on a technicality."

"Very well, get ready." Kakashi said.

Naruko watched as her girlfriend evaded Kiba's attack almost effortlessly. While Kiba was stronger, Haku was just too fast for him. She weaved around his attacks and picked at his openings with her own attacks. While she wasn't as strong as him she could disable an enemy by wearing him down. It was obvious that Kiba was getting frustrated at not being able to hit Haku and that he was getting sloppy.

"Kiba, don't get angry." Kakashi yelled. "Remain calm and try to find a way to beat her."

Kiba didn't hear a word of Kakashi's advice and continued to rush in. Deciding that the spar had gone on long enough, Haku grabbed two senbon needles from her pouch and got ready. When Kiba's punch sailed past her, she slipped into his guard and used one of the senbon needles to hit a pressure point in his back. The second the needle entered his body, Kiba lost all control over his legs and he crashed down on the ground on his butt. Haku slowly moved towards him with her remaining senbon needle in her right hand. When she reached him, she pointed the needle to his heart.

"I win." Haku smiled.

Kiba could only nod at her words and Kakashi ended the spar in Haku's favor. Kiba was still sitting on the ground in shock that he couldn't feel his legs nor even move them an inch. Haku extracted the senbon needle from his back and smiled.

"Don't worry, you'll regain feeling in your legs in a few seconds." Haku explained. "It's only a temporarily paralysis that last for a few minutes at the most."

"Thank god." Kiba said relieved. "That scared me."

"Kiba, you're biggest mistake is that you lost your cool." Kakashi said. "You lost your temper and got sloppy making it much easier for Haku to get inside your guard and attack you. I know it's not always easy but a shinobi must always remain calm, no matter what. Being angry causes us to make mistakes and in our field, mistakes lead to death more often than we wish."

"I get it, sensei." Kiba said somewhat disappointed. "I'll work on it."

"Good, your form and strength are well developed." Kakashi smiled. "Keep working on them and you'll be Chuunin before you know it."

In the other group Lee had just defeated Shikamaru in their spar. Shikamaru had no chance against Lee in a spar where he couldn't use his clan techniques to capture the enemy. Lee however was not restricted like the others as he only had Taijutsu so he was accustomed to fight this way. Combined with his crazy speed and strength, Shikamaru had no choice but to forfeit once Lee got his engine started.

"Alright, last spar is Sasuke vs Naruko." Asuma said.

Both of them walked to the middle of the training ground and faced each other. The others got silent and prepared for the spar. It was no secret that Naruko and Sasuke had somewhat of a fierce dislike of each other. Ever since their academy days together, the two of them had little or no interaction and when they did it was mostly mission related. Naruko disliked the Uchiha for his attitude towards others and his behavior. She respected his strength as she knew that he took his training very seriously. She had no problem acknowledging that Sasuke was a strong shinobi with loads of potential. If only he could loosen up a bit and let people in instead of shutting everyone out.

She understood that after what happened to his family, the young boy was fixated on revenge. Perhaps if something happened to her family like that, she would react the same way. It was impossible to tell but she felt that he went about it the wrong way. While she had no doubt that she would also want to kill the one who hurt her loved ones, she wouldn't let them ruin her life as well. Then again to lose everyone you love in such a violent way is enough to twist even the most rational person.

"Let's have a good match." Naruko said to Sasuke.

"I've been wanting to fight you for some time now." Sasuke returned. "Let's see how you measure up against an Uchiha."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter Forty-One: Uzumaki vs Uchiha

"Okay, remember this is a spar." Asuma said. "This is to learn and gain experience. Are you two ready?"

"I'm ready, Asuma-Sensei." Naruko nodded.

"Just start the fight already." Sasuke said impatiently. He was excited to see how he would do against Naruko. For several months now he had been hearing about how amazing and strong she has become since they graduated from the Shinobi Academy. He still couldn't believe she was made Chuunin before him, all because she was lucky enough to catch Mizuki betraying the village. In his opinion anyone could have been the one to discover the plot against Konoha that night.

However, ever since that time rumors about how strong she and her girlfriend had become and how they had helped on the frontline of the invasion of Konoha had been going around, he had been curious what made her so strong. He knew these rumors were exaggerated, most rumors are, but he still wanted to test himself against her. Then she had knocked him out during his fight with that Suna Shinobi named Gaara and practically humiliated him in the process. This was unacceptable in his eyes.

Another thing this fight would show him was if Mizuki and that scientist he had met a few weeks back were right. Was Konoha holding him back? If he couldn't defeat a simple Kunoichi who was promoted by luck, then what chance did he have against Itachi? He and Naruko were of the same age and thus should be on the same level. There's no way that she was stronger than him if they received the same kind of training from their sensei.

"Fight." Asuma said starting the spar.

Naruko watched as Sasuke sprung into action. She saw him grab some shuriken from his pouch and throw them at her; she wasn't worried however as she calmly dodged three of them and deflected another two with a kunai. To her surprise however another five shuriken were hidden in the shadow of the first five and she was forced to jump to her side in order to avoid getting hit. When she landed she saw that Sasuke had closed the distance between them and aimed his fist at her head.

She had enough time to dodge and Sasuke's fist hit nothing but air. As she dodged the attack by throwing her head to the side, she took advantage to counter-attack. She raised her leg, trying to kick him in the stomach. Her attack was stopped by Sasuke, who managed to block the kick with both arms. Still, the kick was hard enough to make him stagger back a few steps. Naruko didn't waste the opportunity and pressed her attack. Before he could regain his bearings, Sasuke had to dodge a punch to the head and another round –house kick by Naruko. Seeing that he needed to create some distance between them he jumped back by focusing some chakra into his legs.

"Not bad Sasuke." Naruko said impressed.

"Hn, you haven't seen anything yet." Sasuke smirked racing towards her.

Naruko wasn't intimidated at the least and started running at Sasuke as well. They met in the middle of the training ground again and Naruko caught Sasuke's fist with her hand, while he did the same as her. With both hands caught, the two stared at each other trying to overpower the other. While Naruko was stronger than most girls and some guys, she wasn't about to risk the fight by trying to gamble on her strength. So instead of continuing the struggle she moved on to her next attack.

Sasuke was standing with his front leg bent so he could put strength into it, while his other leg with behind him to prevent him from slipping back. Seeing this Naruko stepped forward and used Sasuke's knee as a stepping point and did a back flip. In the process however she kicked the boy straight in the chin, making him let go of her and staggering back. Naruko wasn't finished however and she jumped into his guard and delivered a crushing punch to his stomach almost making him lose his lunch. Her final attack, a double punch to the face, was barely evaded as Sasuke regained control.

Naruko jumped back seeing that Sasuke needed some time to recover and she didn't want to lose the advantage she had by running blindly into his attacks. She did let out a small chuckle when she saw him rub his chin and wipe the blood of his bottom lip. She doubted he would be hindered by the attack for long as she had purposely kept back a lot of her strength. This was a spar after all.

"You'll pay for that one, blondie" Sasuke sneered.

"Bring it on, pretty boy." Naruko returned making a 'come on' gesture with her hand.

Sasuke roared in anger at being taunted and attacked once more. His kicks and punches were easily blocked by Naruko at first but it seemed he had started to speed up as the fight continued. Still, he was way slower then Yuugao, Anko or Yamato so dodging was not really a problem. His guard however was airtight and she had trouble finding an opening. She let him keep on his attack in the hopes that he would slip up soon. When she saw his arm go down, she attacked. Unfortunately, it seemed as Sasuke had deliberately opened his guard to lure Naruko in attacking him.

Naruko cursed as she felt Sasuke's knee make contact with her upper thigh and she felt the pain coursing through her leg. It was a fine attack that would hinder her movement for several moments. To prove that his attack had been well planned Sasuke's attacks sped up even more and with her moving being slowed down, Naruko was unable to block the punch to her face and the follow up one that connected to her shoulder. She did however manage to grab Sasuke's arm in she pulled him close before she head-butted him. Both took a few steps back from the blow, halting the match once more.

"Hah, Sasuke-kun is kicking your girlfriend's ass." Sakura said to Haku.

"Naruko-chan hasn't even started." Haku said calmly. "She's been analyzing Sasuke's fighting style. I admit that he has some real talent in the field of Taijutsu. No doubt he'll become very strong but let me tell you one thing right now." Haku said pausing for effect. "Naruko-chan is the strongest out of all of us."

"Yeah right." Sakura snorted.

"Sakura, don't forget that Naruko is already a Chuunin." Shikamaru said lazily. "That means something, you know."

"Bah, you're a Chuunin as well and you get your butt kicked every time." Sakura said glaring at the Nara prodigy.

"Let's just watch the spar shall we." Kakashi said to them.

Naruko grinned as she watched Sasuke recover from her head-butt. She had clearly damaged him as she saw him shake his head to get rid of the dizziness and pain. Her own pain was already gone so she was good to go. Still, in the spirits of the spar she waited until Sasuke was fully recovered.

Sasuke cursed as he shook his head clear. He had definitely felt that one and his head was still throbbing from the pain. Not expecting such an attack had made sure he couldn't brace himself for the pain making the attack more effective. Growling at his opponent he saw her standing with a smile on her face. He seethed with anger at her.

'How dare she mock me?' Sasuke thought. 'She's been taking my attacks like they were nothing. Am I really that weak? Perhaps they were truly holding me back?'

"What's the matter?" Naruko asked confused. "Not going to continue? Forfeiting?"

"Like I would ever forfeit to the likes of you." Sasuke yelled. "You're nothing compared to the might of the Uchiha." His Sharingan flared up and he stared at her with those powerful eyes.

"Sasuke, no use of Kekkei Genkai." Asuma intervened. "If you attack now, I'll stop the match right there."

Sasuke growled but stopped using his Sharingan. He had wanted to see how Naruko would do against the Sharingan but it seemed that he wouldn't find out today. No matter, there would be other opportunities. He grabbed into his pouch and took out a scroll; swiping some blood on the scroll, a simple but elegant blade appeared.

"You're the first I'll fight with this blade." Sasuke smirked.

"I'm honored." Naruko snorted. "Can you even use that?"

"You're about to find out." Sasuke said attacking.

Naruko, who had been taking lessons from Yuugao for months and had been sparring with Haku for just as long, snorted at the form Sasuke used. She easily recognized that Sasuke had no real experience with swords and she dodged the sword with ease. She could tell that Sasuke had received no real training on how to fight with a sword but most likely trained on his own to create his own style.

"It's a nice blade but that's all it is." Naruko said when she evaded another swipe of the sword. "You're a talented shinobi, Sasuke but you're no swordsmen."

"Shut up." Sasuke said.

"Let me show you what it means to fight with a sword." Naruko said reaching into her pouch. Everyone watched as she took out something that resembled a sword handle.

"What's that?" Sasuke snorted. "That's not a sword."

"Oh but it is." Naruko chuckled. She then concentrated some chakra into the handle and a blue, crackling blade appeared from the handle. Everyone but Haku's and Yamato's jaws dropped at seeing the blade and they wondered what it was. When Hinata asked about the blade it was Naruko herself who answered. "This is the 'Raijin'." As she held the Katana shaped sword in front of her lovingly.

"That's impossible." The Jounin sensei said shocked. "The legendary sword of the Nidaime Hokage. It was supposed to be lost from the village for years."

"We took it back from the person who stole it from the village." Naruko continued. "When we returned it to Tsunade-Baachan, she insisted that I keep it and use it as my own."

"Do you realize what this means?" Kurenai breathed. "Stories tell that the one who wields this sword is invincible."

"Sorry Kurenai-Sensei, but that's totally exaggerated." Haku said. "Naruko has yet to win a swordfight against me or Yuugao-neechan. While a sword like this has some advantages, it's the one who wields it who needs to be strong."

"Also if that was true, than we wouldn't have defeated the one who stole the sword in the first place." Naruko added. "Now, how about it Sasuke? Care to test your blade against mine?"

Sasuke looked on in wonder at the marvelous blade in his opponent's hand. He could tell that his own blade stood no chance against it but he wasn't about to forfeit because of this. He gripped his blade strongly and made his resolve. He sped forward and attacked.

Naruko calmly waited for Sasuke to reach her and brought up the 'Raijin'. She blocked the attack and stopped Sasuke from advancing. She could feel the Raiton Chakra grind against Sasuke's blade and she focused her chakra so that the 'Raijin' wouldn't destroy the blade. She had no intention of ruining the blade, which would have an insult to any adversary.

Sasuke could feel the Raiton chakra running through the metal of his blade and it started numbing his hands as he held the blade. Before he could continue his attack however, Naruko pushed his blade away, forcing his torso to be wide open as his arms were pushed upwards. Naruko pivoted on her front foot and made a full circle before she slashed the 'Raijin' across Sasuke's chest. Sasuke screamed in pain as the Raiton chakra ran through his body, giving him a nasty shock. He crashed on the ground, unable to get up due to his body not responding to his wishes.

"That's enough." Asuma decided. "Great match, you two."

Naruko stopped focusing her chakra through the Raijin and quickly put it away before walking over to Sasuke. She stopped in front of him and held out her hand in order to help him.

"I had fun, Sasuke." Naruko admitted. "You were a fun opponent to spar with. If you want some help with sparring with swords I'm sure Haku-chan and TenTen would love to help you. They're much better than I am."

"I don't need your or anyone's help." Sasuke said angry slapping Naruko's hand away.

"I'm only saying that…" Naruko said angry. Here she was trying to be kind and friendly and he threw it back in her face.

"If I were allowed to use my Sharingan, you wouldn't have stood a chance." Sasuke said getting up before walking away. "You were lucky but next time I'll win."

"Jerk." Naruko said when Sasuke was out of hearing reach.

"Don't worry about him Naru-chan." Haku said softly. "Sasuke is just too proud to accept help from others, that's all."

"I don't know why I even bothered to be polite to him." Naruko said angry. "I get it that he wants to avenge his family but why is he so cold towards everyone else?"

"Naruko, amongst all of you it's probably only you and Haku who know how difficult it is to be alone in this world." Kakashi said. "Sasuke has been alone for years, fixated on getting stronger and avenging his family. It has become his goal in life and I'm afraid it's starting to twist his mind."

"Still Kakashi, if he continues like this, he's going to snap one day." Asuma interjected while looking at the other Genin. "We've all seen it happen before and it's never pretty. We'll need to keep an eye on him."

"Don't worry about my student, Asuma." Kakashi said. "Hokage-sama has already instructed me to keep a close eye on him. I will not let anything happen to my student. Besides, Sasuke is stronger than you think and I'm sure he'll manage to find his way."

"I hope you're right Kakashi." Asuma sighed.

After the sparring section was done, the Genin were allowed to leave and train on their own or they could stay and get some help from the Jounin. Only Naruko, Haku, Lee and TenTen stayed and continued to train. TenTen has of course ambushed Naruko about the 'Raijin' and she was absolutely fascinated by it. After several minutes of inspecting the sword she challenged Haku to as duel which the girl happily accepted.

Lee went over to Gai and started training with his role model, while shouting about doing some youthful training.

Naruko however went to see Kakashi and asked for some instructions on her Raiton element. While she was starting to have a good grasp on her element, she still felt like she could make a lot of progress. Kakashi was known to have created one of the strongest Raiton based attacks, the Chidori, and she was sure that he could give her some good tips or ideas.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you have a minute?" Naruko asked.

"How can I help the 'Raiton Megami' of Konoha?" Kakashi smiled.

"Not you too." Naruko sighed. "I was wondering if you had any tips or idea for mastering my Raiton element. You use Raiton Jutsu as well, no?"

"Of course." Kakashi nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, I've been focusing on creating new Jutsu but I'm wondering what other Jutsu exist." Naruko said. "Unfortunately both Yuugao-neechan and Yamato-Sensei are not well versed in Raiton techniques so it's been difficult to find out what sort of techniques already exist."

"Well, like with all the other Chakra elements there are tons of Raiton Jutsu." Kakashi nodded. "For example, there's the Raiton Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This, as the name indicates, is a clone made out of Raiton chakra that will give your opponent a terrible electric shock when they hit it. It's not an easy technique to learn but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Oh, I definitely like that one." Naruko grinned in anticipation. "How do you do it?"

"It's the same process as a normal Kage Bunshin but instead of you normal chakra, you use Raiton Chakra." Kakashi said. "It sounds easy but you'll see that it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Thank Kakashi-sensei, I'll get working on that one right away." Naruko said happily.

"Ah to be young again, huh Yamato." Kakashi said.

"I'm still young, sempai." Yamato said a bit affronted. "So speak for yourself."

"Huh, did you say something?" Kakashi deadpanned while taking out his favorite book.

A week later Naruko and Haku were traveling to the Konoha Hospital to meet up with Tsunade. They had been told by Yamato that they were specifically requested by Tsunade to accompany her on a trip but he didn't specify where they would be going or what the purpose of the trip was. He had only said that they would enjoy the trip. As they came up to the hospital, they quickly moved straight to the office that the soon to be Hokage was using.

"Ah, you're already here." Tsunade said when they entered her office. "Just give me a minute to finish my report and then we can leave."

"No worries, Baa-chan." Naruko smiled and sat down in one of the chairs with Haku at her side.

"There." Tsunade said after a few more minutes. "Glad that's over. Stupid reports, can't wait until I'm done with those."

"Because you think that the Hokage has no paperwork?" Naruko laughed loudly. "Nice one, Baa-chan."

"Shut up brat." Tsunade glared at the blonde but they could tell there was no anger in the glare. "Let's go."

"And where exactly are we going, Tsunade-sama?" Haku asked politely as the neared the great Gate of Konoha. After getting checked out they started their trip.

"Yamato didn't tell you?" Tsunade asked getting a no in return. "We're going to Sunagakure. As my 'promotion' to Hokage is now officially known here in Konoha, we need to formally inform our allies about it as well. As future Hokage, I'm to meet with the leaders of Sunagakure and present myself."

"Oh, Sunagakure?" Naruko said excited. "We've never been there and who knows, maybe we can see Gaara."

"It would be nice to see him again." Haku nodded equally excited. "I wonder how he's been after the invasion."

"Gaara? Suna's Jinchuuriki?" Tsunade recalled as she had been told about the boy. "I remember you girls telling me about him but I didn't know you were such close friends."

"I wouldn't exactly call us 'close friends' but that's only because we never got a lot of time to spend with him." Naruko sighed. "Still, he's a fellow Jinchuuriki and I'd like to get to know him better. He was crazy strong and if it wasn't for your and Jiraiya-kyoufuu's training, it would have been very hard to beat him."

"Well, you'll have your chance now." Tsunade explained. "We should be there for a couple of days so I'm sure you'll get to see him. He's the son of the previous Kazekage after all."

"I'll warn him about Akatsuki at the same time. He's just as much a target as I am so he deserves to know there are people out to get him." Naruko said determined.

"Don't worry, Naruko-chan. You said it yourself, Gaara is strong. He won't be defeated that easily." Haku said supporting her girlfriend. She knew all too well how worried Naruko was at times about Akatsuki.

"Don't forget, you're not alone." Tsunade added. "We won't let them get you."

"Thanks." Naruko smiled with renewed confidence. "How long until we get there?"

"At this pace, about two days. The last part is traveling through the vast desert, which is a pain." Tsunade sighed. "Be careful to ration your water. The desert has claimed many shinobi who thought that they were strong enough to travel in the desert. It's a dangerous place and if you don't pay attention, you'll end up getting lost. Not to mention the scorching heat during the day and cold temperatures during the night."

"Have you been to Sunagakure before?" Naruko asked.

"A few times." Tsunade nodded. "Although it wasn't exactly under such friendly circumstances. Konoha and Suna clashed several times in history, both in the Second and Third Shinobi World War. Suna shinobi were terrifying enemies and some of them were truly magnificent shinobi. One of the most recognizable forces of Suna were the 'Kugutsu Butai' (Puppeteer Brigade) with their amazing control over their puppets."

"Like Kankuro." Naruko nodded. "It's not my style but I can see how powerful they can be."

"A true puppeteer can control several puppets at the same time making them very powerful enemies." Tsunade continued. "That combined with their other forces and we were hard pressed to defeat them. One of the best Puppeteers still known today are 'Chiyo of the Sand'." A scowl appeared on her face as she said that name.

"You don't seem to like very much." Haku inquired.

"Hah, that's putting it lightly." Tsunade snorted. "The two of us have quite a bit of history. During the Second Shinobi World War she kept on inventing new poisons that killed many Konoha shinobi. I managed to create an antidote for each and every one of them but not before they claimed many lives. She's a crafty old witch and not one to take lightly. When it comes to Puppets and poisons she's without a doubt one of the best."

"Wow." Haku and Naruko said impressed. To hear Tsunade talk about someone like that couldn't only mean that they were strong.

The rest of the day went pretty quick and soon night had fallen and they stopped for the night. Haku and Naruko quickly gathered some supplies and made a camp while Tsunade sat down and read some documents. The trip wasn't simply to introduce herself as the future Hokage but also to share information and discuss the terms of the treaty that had been made after Suna's attack on Konoha. After the invasion, Sarutobi and the Fire Daimyo had discussed the terms of this treaty and after all these months, a revision was in order. Konoha had recovered from the damage and thus it was no longer necessary for Suna to keep paying for repairs.

Sarutobi had asked her to discuss the terms again with the leaders of Suna. She was a bit nervous about such a huge responsibility but her sensei was sure she would do great. He had no doubt that she would do what was best for the village. This meant strengthening the bonds with Suna as well, so she was hoping to give Suna some good conditions that would give them some advantage. For some reason she and Sarutobi had no doubt that there alliance would be greatly needed in the future.

When the girls returned she put away the documents and helped prepared some dinner. Over dinner the three kunoichi had a great time telling stories. Tsunade enjoyed telling stories about her time with Jiraiya and how she always used to kick his ass when they were younger. Naruko laughed as she could totally picture a younger Tsunade standing over a downed Jiraiya.

"What was Jiraiya-sama like when he was younger?" Haku asked curiously.

"Oh, don't get me started." Tsunade laughed. "I remember the first day I met him as it was yesterday."

"Do tell." Naruko grinned eager for some blackmail material.

"Well, I had just gotten news that I would be part of a team with two boys under the tutelage of Sarutobi Hiruzen." Tsunade started her tale. "You have to understand that in that time, Konoha was still pretty young and the Second Shinobi World War had only just ended. Sensei was appointed Hokage by my Grand-uncle Senju Tobirama and so I was greatly honored to be taught by such a strong shinobi."

"I just can't picture a younger ji-chan." Naruko giggled slightly.

"Oh, Sensei was a handsome man in his younger days. Many girls tried to catch his eye and get him to ask them on a date." Tsunade laughed at the two shocked faces. "Oh the stories I could tell you about those days until Biwako-sama managed to claim him but those are for another time. Back to my original story; when Sensei introduced me to the other members of our team, Jiraiya's first words were 'Nice to meet you, I'm Jiraiya. Don't worry, you can give me a love letter later'."

"That sounds so like him." Naruko roared with laughter.

"Of course, I kicked his ass for that one." Tsunade grinned. "He was a bit of an idiot and way too forward when it came to girls. He was brash, impulsive, loud and not at all that talented."

"But, Jiraiya-sama is one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha." Haku said shocked.

"True but even the strongest can start out as a total loser." Tsunade agreed. "Jiraiya wasn't a natural born genius but got where he is today with nothing but hard work and the strength to never give up. Throughout all our years together I have never seen him give up on anything. Not once have I heard him say he was not capable of doing something or would he concede his defeat. He become a magnificent shinobi thanks to all the blood, sweat and tears he shed during training."

"You admire him?" Naruko asked.

"Of course! Jiraiya is not only my teammate but he's also one of my closest friends and confidents." Tsunade said surprised that the girls didn't understand how much she cared for Jiraiya. "Don't get me wrong though, I have never been or will be interested in him romantically but I do love him. He was there for me when my brother and Dan died and I know I can count on him no matter what. "

'Jiraiya-kyoufuu is pretty amazing isn't he?" Naruko said proudly.

"When he's not being a pervert." Tsunade deadpanned. "He and Sensei used to go peeking on women in the hot springs together. Of course, Sensei was never caught but Jiraiya got more than his share of beatings by angry kunoichi."

"Did he ever peep on you?" Haku asked.

"Once." Tsunade grinned.

"Only once?" Naruko asked surprised. "With the way he adores you, I would think he would have tried to peep on you more often."

"Oh I'm sure he would love to but he knows what's good for him." Tsunade laughed. "The one time he tried, I caught him and distributed divine punishment. I broke several bones and ruptured a few organs. Suffice to say that when left the hospital after a month of intensive care, he had learned his lesson."

"Wow, you didn't go easy on him." Haku whistled.

"Hell no!" Tsunade exclaimed. "But all kidding aside, Jiraiya is a wonderful man. Dedicated to being a shinobi and protecting his loved ones, and that's why I admire and respect him. If all shinobi were like him then Konoha would be unbeatable."

"You Sannin sure are amazing." Naruko sighed. "It's a shame Orochimaru became such an evil person and caused so much harm."

"Orochimaru was not always the way he was now." Tsunade said softly. "Before he became the twisted man he is today, he was one of the most amazing shinobi I've ever met or seen. He was Sensei's prized student and I have no doubt that he could have been made Hokage, if it wasn't for his desire for power. When we were starting out as Genin, he was a quiet but kind boy, talented in everything he did. He was distant but he warmed up to Jiraiya and myself after a while."

"So what happened?" Haku wanted to know.

"Like so many of us, his parents were shinobi and pretty amazing ones at that." Tsunade told them. "You have to remember that the times were very different that what they are now. War had raged for years and tensions between the hidden villages was still high. It wasn't unusual for shinobi to be ambushed and killed just to weaken the opposing village. I don't know the details of what happened as we were still Genin at the time but one day, Konoha sent out Orochimaru's parents on a high profile mission that went south. Not one shinobi returned alive."

"So he lost his parents." Naruko nodded. "A terrible thing to happen to a young child."

"It was." Tsunade continued. "Orochimaru took it very hard and he become obsessed with power and immortality. He started to believe that strength equaled the number of Jutsu you knew and that his parents had died because they were weak. Starting that day, all he cared about was getting stronger, learning more Jutsu and how to live forever. He become cold and distant once more and no matter what Jiraiya or myself did, we couldn't get him to change. During the Third Shinobi World War he had become so cruel and viscous that nobody outside Jiraiya and me wanted to work with him. Once the war was done, we hardly saw or heard from him. I had left Konoha and Jiraiya was also traveling around but Orochimaru stayed in the village to do his experiments. Only after a few years did Sensei find out about it and took action."

"Ji-Chan said it broke his heart to see the young boy he had helped raise becoming such a twisted person." Naruko said as she recalled some of the stories the Sandaime had told her.

"Sensei was unable to kill Orochimaru and let him escape." Tsunade growled. "A terrible mistake that he regretted ever since but there's nothing we can do about that now. The young, innocent Orochimaru was long dead before that night but Sensei is a kind and generous man and he always tries to resolve things peacefully. Unfortunately, that's not always possible. It's a lesson you should remember, both of you."

"We will, Baa-chan." Naruko and Haku nodded.

"Good. Now let's get some sleep." Tsunade said. "I'll take the first watch, then Haku and then Naruko. I'll wake you up in a few hours."

"Goodnight, Tsunade-sama." Haku said crawling close to Naruko.

It didn't take too long before both girls were sleeping soundly and Tsunade smiled at them. She truly loved both girls and she would be forever grateful that she had met them when she did. Not only did they force her to make peace with her past but they gave her so much love in return. She promised herself that she would do anything to ensure that both of them would live rich and fulfilling lives together and she hoped that they would be spared from the pain she, and so many other shinobi, had endured in their life.

'I'll protect you two with my life.' Tsunade said planting a gentle kiss on the girl's foreheads.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-Two: Reunion

Naruko and Haku were running behind Tsunade as they crossed the desert toward Sunagakure. They had been running for quite some time now and the girls were starting to feel the effects of the blazing sun above them. They had left very early in the morning as Tsunade wanted to cross as much distance as possible before it became too hot.

"Still okay back there?" Tsunade inquired.

"Y-Yeah but the heat is incredible." Naruko said puffing from the heat. "Do we have to wear these cloaks?"

"Yes, we do. "Tsunade said strongly. "The sun will burn your skin and dry you out. I know it's though but don't take them off. Also it protects your head from the heat. We do not want to get a heatstroke."

"How much further to Sunagakure?" Haku asked.

"We've been making good progress so far so I would say, two maybe three more hours." Tsunade guessed. "We're almost there so hang in there."

"Pff, like we would stop now." Naruko huffed. "We're not quitters, Baa-chan!"

"Good." Tsunade nodded as she picked up the pace. "We'll reach the great walls of Sunagakure by noon if we can continue like this."

Several hours later Naruko and Haku stared at the huge walls made of stone that seemed to rise up for several meters. These walls were natural rock formations that were used to protect Sunagakure from any attack. Along the walls guards were placed at regular intervals and each of them were armed and ready to defend their village. Haku and Naruko looked at the narrow passageway that would allow entrance to the village. It was the only way into the village so it was heavily guarded and protected.

As they reached the great walls they saw someone waiting for them. Haku and Naruko recognized him immediately as the Jounin sensei of Gaara and his siblings. The man was still wearing the same outfit as before and even the white cloth that covered half of his face was still present.

"Welcome to Sunagakure." Baki said as he approached the three kunoichi. "My name is Baki and wish you welcome to our village."

"Thank you for your kind words, Baki-san." Tsunade nodded her gratitude. "It's an honor to be here. I would like to introduce my travel companions Uzumaki Naruko and Haku."

"Ah yes of course; We've met briefly before my team and I left Konoha." Baki smiled at the girls. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well, Baki-san." Haku and Naruko answered.

"Come, let us get past the walls and into the village." Baki said. "You must be thirsty and tired after your trip through the desert. A room has been prepared for you and you're welcome to rest a bit."

"Thank you." Tsunade nodded. "A shower would do good, right now."

As they marched through the narrow passage, both Naruko and Haku were watching their surroundings with interest. As this was the first time they visited another Shinobi village, they were very interested in seeing how things worked around here. As they passed through the narrow streets of Suna, the people looked at them with some reservation and here and there a bit of shame. Nothing to overt or fierce but they could tell it was there. Baki, too, seemed to have noticed and addressed the matter.

"Please excuse them; after the invasion many of us have been feeling very bad about the way we were tricked." Baki said. "Also we lost several good and beloved shinobi in the fight."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tsunade said diplomatically.

"Don't be." Baki shook his head. "It was our own fault. We were careless and we paid the price. We never once expected that the Kazekage had been killed and was being impersonated by Orochimaru. Perhaps if we had been more diligent all of this wouldn't have happened."

"The shinobi of Sunagakure shouldn't feel bad." Tsunade answered. "Orochimaru has tricked more shinobi than this. He's a master at what he does and you can be sure that he studied the Kazekage very well before taking his place. There's no way Suna could have known."

"Thank you for your kind words." Baki said somewhat relieved. "Still, we have learned from our mistakes and at the very least the new treaty has given us a new chance at forming an alliance with Konoha that surpasses the old one. For that we are grateful."

"Konoha feels the same way, I assure you." Tsunade nodded. "We are honored to call the village of Sunagakure allies."

"Come, not much further." Baki said.

"Baki-san, can you tell us a bit about Sunagakure?" Naruko asked interested.

"Of course, what do you want to know?" Baki smiled at the blonde girl.

"Whatever you can tell us." Naruko said.

"Very well; Sunagakure was founded by the first Kazekage who was in fact the leader of a large tribe of travelers. For many years, decades perhaps, this group had been travelling the desert, roaming from one place to the next. When the Kazekage became the leader of his tribe, he decided that traveling the desert was no longer in their favor. I'm sure you noticed from you trip that the desert is a traitorous place to live."

"No water, blazing hot during the day and freezing cold during the night." Haku acknowledged.

"Exactly, so he and his tribe set out to find the perfect spot to settle down." Baki continued the story. "After many years, they finally came upon this valley. As you can see, the valley is surround by rock formations, protecting it from the wind and the sandstorms that rages the desert frequently. It was an ideal spot to create the village."

"How did it become a shinobi village?" Haku wanted to know.

"Oh, the tribe was filled with several shinobi families." Baki explained. "Other tribes that were dwelling in the desert soon followed and created Sunagakure. This was shortly after Konohagakure had been founded by the Shodaime Hokage. The first and second Kazekage were responsible for creating and building our village's foundations and let it grow to what we are today."

"They sound like amazing men." Haku smiled.

"They sure were. However, they were surpassed by the Sandaime Kazekage." Baki continued. "He was said to be the strongest of all Kazekage."

"He was famous for the use of 'Satetsu'". Tsunade nodded. "He was a legendary shinobi in his time."

"Indeed he was. His use of the Iron Sand put Suna on the map and it allowed us to become one of the great 'Five' villages." Baki explained. "Under his reign Suna flourished and when he disappeared without a trace, Suna was desperate to find him. We never did however."

"He simply disappeared?" Naruko asked. She know of the history and how the Sandaime Kazekage's disappearance had led to the start of the Third Shinobi World war.

"Until now we have found no clue what happened." Baki admitted. "We searched everywhere but we couldn't find even one hair of him. It's a complete mystery and one of Suna's darkest moments."

"What about the Yondaime Kazekage?" Naruko asked.

"That's a story that will have to wait until next time." Baki said as they had arrived at the house where they would be staying. "Some people are anxious to see you two."

"Who?" Naruko and Haku asked. They turned as the front door of the house opened and a familiar girl smiled at them.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruko-san , Haku-san, welcome to Sunagakure." The girl said.

"Temari!" Naruko exclaimed and went over to greet the girl. "It's so good to see you."

"Likewise but why don't you come in." Temari said ushering them inside. "I've got some cold beverages and some food prepared."

"Thank you Temari, that's greatly appreciated." Tsunade smiled.

"Tsunade-sama, the meeting will be at ten tomorrow." Baki said. "Temari will escort you to the Kazekage's office in the morning. I wish you a good afternoon and a pleasant evening."

"Thank you, Baki-san." Tsunade nodded. "You have been most welcoming to us."

"It was my pleasure." Baki said bowing before leaving.

Temari quickly invited her three guests inside and told them to relax and get comfortable. Tsunade optioned to take a shower first as she was really hating the sand that kept crawling up her clothes all the time. Naruko and Haku however were too busy looking at the beautiful home, asking questions to Temari, who gladly answered them and showed them around. When they came to the basement the girls encountered another familiar face.

"Hey Kankuro, look who's here." Temari called out to her brother.

"Huh, who?" Kankuro said not bothering to look up from his workstation where he was working on a new puppet of his.

"Well, if you would stop working for a second and turn around you would see." Temari growled which made Kankuro put down his tools and turn around to face his sister's guests. He smiled as he recognized the two Konoha kunoichi and eagerly greeted them.

"It's good to see you two again." Kankuro said heartfelt.

"Thanks, it's good to see you too." Naruko smiled. "Working hard, I see."

"Just putting together an idea I had." Kankuro shrugged. "It's far from being complete but I prefer taking my time when building a puppet."

"It's a wonderful piece of art." Haku said looking around the workshop. "How many puppeteers does Suna have?"

"Not as much as I would like." Kankuro sighed. "It's a style that takes a lot of work and training so not many pick it up. Also you have to be able to make your own puppets early on and many fail to produce a puppet that last them long enough to advance in the style."

"Sounds like hard work indeed." Naruko said impressed.

"Yeah, but I like it." Kankuro nodded. "It calms me down and gives me a way out of Temari's bossiness."

This of course let to a small fight between the two siblings that amused Naruko and Haku to no end. They could tell that the argument was all in good fun and that both of them clearly loved each other. They were bantering back and forth until both were out of ammunition and halted the discussion. Temari did have the last word when she said that Kankuro wouldn't get desert that night if that was how he thought of her. Kankuro quickly retracted his words and almost groveled at her feet for forgiveness.

"So where is Gaara?" Naruko asked when they were heading back up.

"Oh he's training in the desert." Temari explained. "He's been doing that ever since we came back from Konoha. He was strong before but he's on a whole new level now. I don't know what's gotten into him but he's a different person."

"How so?" Naruko asked.

"Before he was always cold and distant. Even to us." Temari explained. "Before he wouldn't have hesitated a second to kill us. It's not nice to say but my little brother scared the hell out of me when he was like that. The thought that he could and would kill us without even blinking terrified me to no end. But now he's trying to close that bridge between us. It's still early and new but we've made wonderful progress."

"We're happy for all of you." Naruko and Haku said.

"It's thanks to you that he's changed so much." Kankuro said as he joined him. "I still don't understand why you managed to get through to him but it doesn't matter. Gaara has made a total one eighty and we're very thankful to both of you for it. Even the villagers and other shinobi have noticed it. When he walks around the village, people are no longer running away from him. They're still wary and uncertain but it's a definite improvement of how it used to be."

"Can we go see him?" Haku asked.

"Bad idea." Both Temari and Kankuro said immediately. "Trust us, you do not want to be around when Gaara is training in the desert. He goes crazy with his Jutsu while training there. The whole desert is at his command; the amount of sand he can control now is mind blowing."

"Really?" Naruko asked excited. "I really want to see him now."

"Me too." Haku agreed. "Please show us where he trains."

"You two are still as crazy as before." Kankuro shook his head. "Fine, I'll take you to him but don't say we didn't warn you."

"Awesome." Naruko grinned.

After they informed Tsunade of where they were going, the four youngsters left the house. On their way to Gaara's training ground, Temari and Kankuro entertained the two Konoha Kunoichi with stories and information about Sunagakure and their lives in the desert. As they walked through the sandy roads, Naruko and Haku noticed just how different life was from theirs in Konoha. There were no trees or small parks where one could relax in the shadow on a hot summer day; no small waterways where you could enjoy a refreshing dip of the feet; no colorful scenery in the autumn or spring. No, Sunagakure had none of that. It had a different kind of beauty to it.

The village layout was different from Konoha; the Kazekage's office was right smack in the middle of the village and everything was build around it in a circular fashion. The small houses were charming in their simplicity and elegant but Naruko found that they lacked the warmth that Konoha's houses had. Still, she could tell that the house were build to withstand the harsh environment of the desert. If they had build their houses like Konoha had, they wouldn't last very long.

"So Gaara has his own personal training ground?" Naruko asked as she focused on the conversation.

"It's not a personal training ground per se." Temari explained. "He simple requested that no one approached him while he was there. He said that he didn't want to accidently hurt anyone if they came too close."

"What kind of training does he do that he could hurt people of they get too close?"e GH Haku asked.

"You'll see soon enough." Kankuro smirked. "Like we said, Gaara is training like crazy. Before he never actually trained as he was already strong enough to defeat almost anyone. After getting his ass kicked by you however, he changed." He said looking at Naruko. "He's been training ever since we came back but when we ask why, he refuses to tell us. It's been driving Temari nuts."

"Hey, you're just as curious as I am!" Temari yelled at her brother. "Don't make it seem like I'm the only one curious about it."

"Fine, I'm just as curious." Kankuro grinned as he managed to rile his sister once more. "Here we are; be careful and keep your eyes open."

Naruko and Haku nodded as they followed the two Suna Shinobi. As they reached the training ground they saw nothing but sand as far as they could see. In the distance however they could see a small human shaped form but it was so far that they had to strain their eyes to see it. They watched as Kankuro and Temari advanced forward and quickly followed them. After a few minutes of running across the sand, they stopped and watched as the desert seemed to explode and sand just about reached the heavens. A tidal wave made out of sand seemed to roll across the desert only to come crashing down several hundred feet further.

"Wow, that's a lot of sand." Naruko said perplexed. "Is Gaara controlling that?"

"Yep, that's one of his techniques." Kankuro said. "Get caught up in that and there's no way to come out alive. The weight of the sand alone would crush you like a tin can. Not to mention the force of the initial impact."

"Very impressive." Haku said shocked. "Gaara truly has the upper hand here. The whole desert is at his disposal; only a fool would attack him here."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but is he floating in the air?" Naruko asked suddenly feeling a bit stupid from asking such a question.

"You're not wrong." Temari laughed. "That's one of his new Jutsu. It's called 'Sabaku Fuyuu' and it allows him to levitate sand and stand on it. He still needs a lot of concentration to use it but he's learning to use it together with other techniques."

"That's so awesome." Naruko said obviously envious of such a skill. "Wish I could do that."

"Come on, let's go see him." Kankuro laughed at Naruko's envy.

Gaara was breathing heavily as she canceled his latest Jutsu. It still took a lot of chakra and concentration to keep the attack going but he felt like was slowly getting better. It had been very strange for him to feel the satisfaction that came with this. Before he had never felt any satisfaction from learning a new technique; they came naturally to him and the only satisfaction he felt was when he killed an opponent with it. Now however he felt good whenever he trained and it had taken some adjustment. The feeling of accomplishing something that made you work so hard was new to him but he liked it.

Ever since his return from Konoha he felt different. He felt better and more at peace with himself. No longer was he focused on killing people in order to prove his existence. Now he focused on becoming a better shinobi and a better person. It hadn't been easy though. The people of Sunagakure were still afraid of him and they kept their distance but he noticed that their opinion was slowly changing for the better. Once they saw that he no longer killed at a whim and he actually stopped producing such a menacing air around him, the people relaxed a bit as well. It was a welcome change and one he hadn't expected to happen for a long time but he was happy about it nonetheless.

He did his best not to distance himself again from his sibling but it wasn't easy. He had never been very attached to them until now and yet again it was a strange feeling. Where before he would have been annoyed at Kankuro for acting like an idiot at times, he now tolerated his brother's goofy behavior. He still didn't understand it and more often than not questioned the boy's mental capabilities but he accepted it.

Temari had been different. She was very protective of him now and at time she hovered around him as if he was a fragile babe in need of a mother. He didn't really need her attention like that but he let her do as pleased. If he was honest with himself, he would have to admit that he kind of liked it how she worried over him as no one had ever done that before. He was about to do his Jutsu again when he heard his name being called.

"Gaara, you have company." He heard his sister's voice call out. "Look who's here."

Gaara turned around and looked down as he was still floated on his sand and saw who had arrived. He knew some shinobi from Konoha would be coming to Suna but he didn't expect to see the two familiar faces that were smiling at him. He willed his sand to lower to the ground and gently floated down.

"Hi Gaara, it's good to see you again." Naruko said getting closer to the boy. As she was happy to see him again she gave him a small hug.

"Uzumaki Naruko, it's good to see you as well." Gaara said stiffly not knowing how to react to the hug.

"You look wonderful." Haku said as she gave a small hug just like Naruko. "You've become much stronger than before."

"I have been training every day to catch up with you." Gaara nodded to Naruko. "You told me that I can be strong like you if I fight to protect those precious to me."

"And did you find any precious people yet?" Naruko smiled.

"I might have." Gaara said looking towards Kankuro and Temari.

"That's great." Naruko and Haku smiled. "We saw your last Jutsu. It was amazing; how do you manipulate so much sand at once?"

"It takes a lot out of me so it's not perfect yet." Gaara answered. "I'm not strong enough yet to do it right."

"Well, now that Naruko and Haku are here you can stop for today." Temari said. "We should get home so they can relax a bit after their trip. It's not good for you two to stay out in the sun all day. You might catch a sunburn or heatstroke without noticing it until it's too late."

Everyone nodded and returned to the house. Along the way Naruko and Haku were asking Gaara tons of questions, all of which he answered in a typical Gaara way. Short and to the point but they didn't mind. They knew Gaara was still adjusting to having people to talk to and wanting to be around him, even after all these months. When they got to the house, they found Tsunade sitting in a chair, relaxing and they quickly joined her. Naruko and Haku opted to take a shower and refresh themselves before having diner.

Diner was lively affair as Kankuro entertained all of them with stories of his adventures in Sunagakure. Temari added much to the stories as well, as she told them how often she had to save her brother from trouble he had caused in the first place. Naruko, Haku and Tsunade also told some stories about the latest few months so everyone was in high spirits. The only one who seemed to be very quiet was Gaara but they could all tell he was enjoying himself as he sat there listening to the others. A tiny glint of a small smile showing on his face and the eyes that were once so cold and distant, now showing signs of contentment and happiness.

Meanwhile in Konoha, a certain Uchiha had only just returned from a new mission with his team. The mission had been a simple C-rank and had posed no challenge whatsoever which frustrated him till no end. For months now he had been forced to do these meaningless missions and his patience was running thin. Whenever he asked for special training or more worthwhile missions Kakashi refused saying that he wasn't ready yet. That he should focus on mastering what he already knew instead of wanting to learn new techniques. That the basics were important and so on.

They were nothing but excuses he realized. He was starting to see what Mizuki and Amachi had tried to tell him; if he stayed in Konoha he would never reach the necessary level to beat Itachi. Yes, he would get stronger eventually but it would take years and years before that happened. His thirst for revenge simply couldn't wait that long. His revenge was all he had left and he wanted to get stronger fast. While he understood the seriousness of what leaving Konoha meant, he found himself not really caring any longer. He had no ties left here and thus it wouldn't be that much of a sacrifice to leave his native village. Perhaps it would even be for the best as it would also mean a fresh start. Surely an Uchiha would be welcomed anywhere.

As he pondered his options he was suddenly startled when a large snake appeared next to him out of nowhere. He jumped up and readied himself to attach the snake but he halted when the snake dropped a scroll on the floor. Curiously he got closer and slowly picked up the scroll, keeping an eye on the snake should it decide to attack. He unrolled the scroll and started ready.

_Uchiha Sasuke,_

_I'm sure you know who I am as no doubt you have heard of me before. I've had my eye on you for quite a while and I recognize much of myself in you. Both of us are considered geniuses and are capable of things other shinobi can only dream of. However, just as I was, you're being held back by Konoha and its weak regime. They fear that people like you and me would get too strong. They fear our capabilities because they know that it's only a matter of time before we would rise above them and they would lose control over us. People like us are meant for greatness but this greatness cannot be achieved as long as were shackled down by those inferior to us._

_If you desire the strength and power to defeat your brother then I'll make you an offer you shouldn't refuse. Join me and I'll give you all the power you'll ever need. Your revenge upon your brother will be within your grasp._

_Join me and I shall free you of these shackles and give you the one thing you desire above anything else. Power. Power to defeat not only your brother but also all those that try to control you._

_If you agree to my proposal, all you have to do is meet with my subordinate north of Konoha in two weeks time. A map will be delivered later on. A diversion will be arranged to ensure that you can leave without anyone noticing. As a token of my good will, I have included a present to you. Use it well. Remember this is but a fraction of the things I could teach you._

_Orochimaru_

Putting the scroll down Sasuke noticed that the snake had delivered a second scroll. He picked it up and unrolled only to reveal several B and A rank Ninjutsu. There were about ten of them, five Katon Ninjutsu and five Raiton Jutsu. Sasuke grinned as he read the description of the Jutsu and he could feel excitement running through his veins. Finally he had received something that would help him in getting stronger.

'Perhaps it's time for me to spread my wings on my own.' Sasuke thought as he considered the offer. 'I'll wait to make a decision for now but in two weeks I'll decide whether I'm staying or not. I'll give Konoha one last chance to do right with me. If they keep insisting on keeping me on a leash, I'll show them that I'm nobody's dog.'

With that thought, Sasuke went to his room and turned in for the night. Tomorrow he would start learning the Jutsu he had received.

Naruko and Haku were having an amazing time in Sunagakure. While Tsunade was occupied with the Suna council, the two of them spent most of their time with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. The three siblings had shown them around in their village and they had met several very interesting people along the way. In fact they had made a few new friends and had sparred with quite a few Suna Shinobi, under the observant eye of Baki.

"So who's the strongest Shinobi of Sunagakure?" Naruko wanted to know.

"Living or dead?" Kankuro asked.

"Both." Naruko smiled. "Not including the Kazekages. I mean, Konoha has several legendary shinobi so I'm sure Suna has them as well."

"Hmm, let's see." Temari said. "Well, there's Baki-Sensei for sure. He's very strong and has mastered the "Kaze no Jaiba" unlike anyone before. He's recognized as one of the strongest Jounin in Sunagakure. I would say he's about the level of Hatake Kakashi."

"That's strong indeed." Haku nodded. "Kakashi-Sensei is definitively one of the strongest Jounin we have."

"Akasuna no Sasori." Kankuro said without a doubt. "He was a legendary Puppeteer before he turned Nukenin. He was taught by Chiyo-baa-sama and she's as much a legend as the Sannin of Konoha."

"Tsunade-sama told us about her." Haku nodded. "She must be very impressive as Tsunade-sama spoke with respect and admiration about her."

"She's a cranky old bat that prefers to be left alone." Temari scowled lightly. "She lives at the outskirts of the village with her brother. She doesn't bother with the village anymore as she has lost all interest in it. I respect her greatly for her achievements but I dislike her because of that fact. She could do much good for the village but she refuses any and all requests for help."

"What happened?" Naruko wanted to know.

"Nobody knows for sure but rumor has it that she became disillusioned with the village when her grandchild, Sasori, became a Nukenin." Kankuro shrugged. "It's a shame though, I could learn so much from her. She's said to be one of the strongest Puppeteers ever. Her 'Jikki Chikamatsu no Shuu' puppets are legendary; it's said that she leveled a fortress with them."

"Really?" Naruko and Haku said impressed.

"It's definitely one of the strongest Puppeteer Techniques in existence." Kankuro smiled, glad that the girls seemed so impressed with his art. "There are ten of them and she could control each puppet with only one finger. That takes an insane amount of Chakra control to do; nobody has ever managed to duplicate that."

"Well, you should totally make that your goal then." Naruko smiled.

"Are you crazy? Do you know how difficult that is?" Kankuro gasped in disbelief.

"So what?" Haku said. "If it's difficult, try harder. If you fail the first time, try again until you succeed, no matter how long it takes. That's how Naru-chan and I train; no matter how hard or difficult something might seem, we'll do it because we won't give up until we succeed."

"Never give up." Gaara said quietly. "Good words to live by."

"See? Gaara understands." Naruko laughed. "Don't think about how difficult something is but think about how amazing it will be once you succeeded. That will be all the motivation you need. You said you wanted to bring your art back? Well, then you better man up and get to work."

"Anything else?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, you might want to reconsider your clothing style." Naruko grinned knowing that it would get a rise out of the young man. "It looks like a pajama."

"Hey, I'll have you know that these are traditional clothes designed for Puppeteers." Kankuro shouted. He glared at the girls but when he saw that they were holding back their laughter he scowled. "You did that on purpose!"

All four of them laughed while Gaara had a small grin on his face. After that they continued their walk to the house in order to get some shelter from the sun and some well earned refreshments.

A week later Naruko, Haku and Tsunade were ready to leave Suna and return to Konoha. Tsunade had been introduced to the council of Suna and they had reformed the Alliance with new terms and agreements that pleased both of them. She had played hardball with the council to show that she wouldn't be intimidated nor pushed aside just because she would be new to the job. She stuck to her demands and, while consenting a bit here and there, the terms were favorable to Konoha. Some terms hadn't been touched, such as the support of either village to the other in time of war, distress or any possible danger that could have major repercussions to the village. An exchange program was to be created that would allow Gennin to come learn in the other village to see what it was like.

This would not only improve both villages as they would learn new techniques and knowledge, it would also mean that the relations between the two villages would strengthen. Konoha, who had a great Medical Nin program could for instance train some Suna Medical Nin under the guidance of Tsunade herself. Suna would teach how to survive in the rough environment of the desert and some Fuuton techniques.

All in all both Suna and Konoha would benefit from the alliance.

After saying their goodbyes to the three siblings that had been their hosts for the past week and a bit, the three Konoha shinobi prepared themselves to cross the desert once more and return home. The three of them had enjoyed their stay at Sunagakure but they were eager to be back home so they wasted no time. Tsunade was itching to get some well deserved rest; Naruko was eager to get some Ichiraku ramen and Haku was wishing for some alone time with Naruko.

"Alright, let's pick up the pace and get home shall we?" Tsunade ordered. The girls didn't mind one bit and followed their future leader through the desert, heading home.


End file.
